Alvaro Uribe's name goes down in infamy: a disgraced ex-president finally faces justice
The far-right politician becomes the first president in Colombian history to be convicted of federal crimes
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez has been sentenced to 12 years of house arrest—to be enforced immediately.
In a written statement, Judge Sandra Heredia also imposed a fine of 3.4 billion Colombian pesos ($830,000 USD) as part of her sentencing of Uribe for procedural fraud in two instances and witness tampering on three criminal charges.
Uribe attended 2 p.m hearing, where sentencing was made formal, and a warrant was be issued for Uribe’s arrest.
Defense lawyers have already stated their intentions to appeal the case.
Uribe’s team denounced the leak of the court statement before the 2 p.m court appearance, claiming it was “part of an orchestrated campaign to violate my rights,” and to “impose authoritarianism on a democratic voice.”
Uribe was given the last word in the trial, and spoke for nearly three hours, proclaiming his innocence and blaming Petro for “trying to silence the opposition,” the judge for “impugning my character and attacking my children,” and even “a concerted attempt to kill democracy in Colombia.”
He also blamed “communism and socialism for a great calumny against my character.”
Even his lawyer looked bored. At times, he entered into a shouting match with the judge, who asked him to respect the fact that victims of his crimes were attendees of the trial, and not to defame or attack them.
At 7:30 p.m, the judge called a recess, appealing to Uribe to finish his diatribe another day.
As part of a nearly 1,000-page comprehensive statement on all evidence presented during the historic months-long trial, Judge Heredia ruled that Álvaro Uribe used proxies and allies in the country's prisons to try to influence paramilitary and narco witnesses in ongoing investigations into his ties to criminal groups.
The evidence included wiretaps of Uribe and his former lawyers’ phones, which recorded the two men discussing the plan.
The defense has the legal right to appeal to Colombia’s Supreme Court, where, ironically, Uribe’s legal troubles began.
The former president denounced left-wing congressman Iván Cepeda at the Constitutional court in 2012, accusing him of having links to paramilitary groups and of bribing witnesses to testify against the right-wing president.
In 2018, the Supreme Court closed the case against Cepeda and opened it against Uribe Vélez, alleging that it was he who sought to bribe witnesses.
Uribe goes down as the first Colombian president in history to be convicted of federal offenses.
It is also likely that the trial has opened new investigations into the criminal ex-president. Judge Heredia specifically disallowed new accusations linking Uribe to paramilitary and narco structures in the country to enter the scope of her ruling.
But victim advocacy groups have already publicly announced their intentions to do exactly that.
Uribe has a rough 12 years ahead of him.
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