Former Colombian President Uribe found guilty in bribery trial that threatens the strongman’s legacy
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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was convicted of witness tampering and bribery charges on Monday, in a historic trial that gripped the South American nation and threatened to tarnish the conservative strongman’s legacy.
The ruling was announced by a judge in Bogota, the country’s capital, following a nearly six-month trial in which prosecutors presented evidence that Uribe attempted to influence witnesses who accused the law and order leader of having links to a paramilitary group founded by ranchers in the 1990s.
In a lengthy ruling that lasted more than ten hours, Judge Sandra Heredia said there was enough evidence to determine that Uribe conspired with a lawyer, to coax three former members of paramilitary groups who were in prison into changing testimony they had provided to Ivan Cepeda, a left-wing senator who had launched a probe into Uribe’s alleged ties to a paramilitary group.
The case dates back to 2012, when Uribe filed a libel suit against Cepeda, with the Supreme Court. But in a surprise twist the high court dismissed charges against Cepeda and launched an investigation against Uribe in 2018.
