A Colombian judge on Monday convicted former President Alvaro Uribe of process abuse and bribery of civil servants, and announced bribery of civil servants in a long-term witness tampering case, making him the country’s first former president of the country’s trial.
Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia read her decision aloud to the court for about 10 hours. She discovered that the right-wing politician was not guilty of another bribery charge.
The ruling that Uribe is expected to appeal is the latest decision in a highly politicized case that has been carried out for nearly 13 years.
The decision comes less than a year after Colombia’s 2026 presidential election. In this presidential election, some of Uribe’s allies and disciples compete for the country’s top offices.
Uribe, 73, and his supporters say the process is persecution and that he is innocent. His detractors celebrated it as a deserved downfall for a man who has been repeatedly accused of close ties with violent right-wing paramilitary groups, but has never been found guilty of a crime.
Each claim has a sentence of 6 to 12 years. Heredia is expected to declare Uribe at a later hearing.
“Justice doesn’t kneel before power,” Heredia spent about nine hours reading her decision after telling the court on Monday morning. “It lies in the service of the people of Colombia.”
“We want to say that justice has arrived in Colombia,” she said. She added that her complete decision is about 1,000 pages in length.
Uribe and one of his lawyers, Jaime Granados, attended the hearing via video link, with another lawyer, Jaime Lombana, appearing in person.
“This is not the end of this process. The appeal is next and we intend to demonstrate that this decision we respect is wrong,” Juan Felipe Amaya, an attorney who is part of Uribe’s legal team, told a court journalist.
Granados told the hearing that Uribe’s presumption of innocence should be maintained, and asked him to remain free for the rest of the process.
Defenders and supporters of the former president gathered outside the courthouse, with several urine supporters flaunting masks on his face.
Even if the conviction is ultimately upheld, Uribe may be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest due to his age.
Uribe, president from 2002 to 2010 and overseeing military attacks on left-wing guerrilla groups, was investigated with several allies over allegations of eyewitness tampering that were made to discredit the charges he was associated with paramilitary groups.
The judge rejected two prosecutors’ requests to shelve the case arising from Uribe’s 2012 allegations that left senator Ivan Sepeda coordinated a conspiracy to link him to the paramilitary.
The Supreme Court said in 2018 that Cepeda had gathered information from former fighters as part of his job and had not paid or oppressed the former paramilitary organization. Instead, the court said it was Uribe and his allies who put pressure on the witnesses.
Cepeda attended the hearing in person with his lawyer.
Uribe’s trial sparked acute criticism from Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of the judge’s decision. During his two terms as president, Uribe had close ties with the United States.
“Uribe’s only crime was to fight and defend his homeland tirelessly. The weaponization of Colombian judicial branch by radical judges has now set a worrying precedent,” Rubio said in X.
“The decision against the former president has been able to generate some sort of retaliation by the US government,” Banco de Bogota said in a memo on Monday, referring to the proposal to partially reduce non-military aid to Colombia by U.S. Republican Rep. Mario Diaz Barato on concerns about violating due process cases in urinary cases.
After two months of house arrest in 2020, Uribe was the head of the powerful Democratic Centre party and was a senator for years before and after his presidency.
He repeatedly emphasizes that he handed over the paramilitary leader to the United States.
Colombia’s Truth Commission says a paramilitary group, which was demobilized under a deal with the Uribe government, killed more than 205,000 people, killing almost half of the 450,000 deaths recorded during the ongoing civil war.
Paramilitary groups, along with guerrilla groups and military members, committed forced disappearances, sexual violence, evacuation and other crimes.
Uribe joined the list of convicted and sometimes imprisoned Latin American leaders, including Alberto Fujimori of Peru, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Christina Fernandez of Argentina, and Ricardo Martinelli of Panama.
This is an evolving story that will be updated and updated.
