Colombia’s ex-President Alvaro Uribe sentenced to 12 years of house arrest

Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has been sentenced to 12 years of location apprehension pursuing his condemnation for witness-tampering and bribery, according to section media reports.

The sentencing proceeding connected Friday besides resulted successful Uribe, 73, receiving a good of $578,000 and a prohibition from serving successful nationalist bureau for 100 months and 20 days — oregon conscionable implicit 8 years.

He is present required to study to authorities successful Rionegro, successful his location state of Antioquia. Afterwards, Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia ordered him to “proceed instantly to his residence wherever helium volition comply with location arrest”.

With his condemnation connected July 28, Uribe has go the archetypal erstwhile Colombian president to beryllium recovered blameworthy successful a transgression trial.

But Uribe’s defence lawyers person already announced that they program to appeal.

The sentencing culminates a six-month proceedings and astir 13 years of ineligible back-and-forth for the fashionable blimpish leader, who is considered 1 of the defining forces successful modern-day Colombian politics.

His location apprehension besides comes little than a twelvemonth earlier Colombia is acceptable to clasp statesmanlike elections successful May 2026.

A idiosyncratic holds a banner that reads ‘Uribe to jail’ successful Bogota, Colombia, connected July 28 [Luisa Gonzalez/Reuters]

Allegations of quality rights abuses

The lawsuit centres astir Uribe’s relation successful Colombia’s much than six-decade-long interior conflict, which has seen authorities forces, right-wing paramilitaries, left-wing rebel groups and drug-trafficking networks each warring for power implicit parts of the country.

During his tenure arsenic president from 2002 to 2010, Uribe led a strong-armed violative against left-wing rebels similar the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the largest specified radical astatine the time.

But that attack earned him disapproval for alleged quality rights abuses, which helium has denied.

Under his presidency, the Colombian subject faced expanding accusations that it was sidesplitting civilians to boost the fig of force fighters it could study arsenic dead.

This practice, known arsenic the “false positives” scandal, has been implicated successful the deaths of astatine slightest 2,000 people, with experts indicating that the fig could beryllium acold higher. As galore arsenic 6,402 killings person been investigated.

Critics person besides questioned Uribe’s ties to right-wing paramilitaries, different allegation the ex-president has rejected.

But much than a decennary ago, Uribe took enactment to soundlessness 1 of his astir salient critics, left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda, sparking his existent trial.

Cepeda and others had drawn connections betwixt Uribe’s emergence successful authorities successful the 1990s and the instauration of the paramilitary radical Bloque Metro.

Opponents of erstwhile President Alvaro Uribe show a motion that says ‘Guilty’ extracurricular a Bogota tribunal connected July 28 [Fernando Vergara/AP Photo]

A ineligible boomerang

In 2012, Uribe filed a libel ailment against Cepeda with Colombia’s Supreme Court, aft the legislator launched a probe into the ex-president’s paramilitary contacts.

But successful 2018, the lawsuit took a astonishing caller direction: The Supreme Court dismissed the ailment against Cepeda, and the tribunal strategy alternatively started to measurement charges against Uribe instead.

Prosecutors accused Uribe of seeking to unit paramilitary witnesses to alteration oregon suppress their testimony. While Uribe has admitted to sending lawyers to conscionable erstwhile members of Colombia’s paramilitaries, helium has denied taking amerciable actions.

Two paramilitaries person testified that Uribe’s lawyer, Diego Cadena, who besides faces transgression charges, offered them wealth to springiness favourable evidence.

Their witnesser statements were besides being utilized successful a execution proceedings featuring Uribe’s brother, Santiago Uribe.

Uribe’s condemnation was announced aft a 10-hour proceeding successful which Judge Heredia said determination was ample grounds that the ex-president sought to alteration witnesser testimony.

But that determination has sparked backlash from the United States, wherever the medication of President Donald Trump has shown a willingness to spot governmental unit connected countries similar Brazil that prosecute transgression cases against erstwhile right-wing leaders.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote connected societal media successful defence of Uribe, repeating charges of judicial bias that person go commonplace nether Trump.

“Former Colombian President Uribe’s lone transgression has been to tirelessly combat and support his homeland,” Rubio said. “The weaponization of Colombia’s judicial subdivision by extremist judges has present acceptable a worrisome precedent.”

But Democrats successful the US accused Trump of seeking to subvert the regularisation of instrumentality overseas for governmental gains.

“The Trump Admin is saying that overseas leaders shouldn’t beryllium taxable to regularisation of instrumentality if they accidental bully things astir Trump,” Representative Jim McGovern wrote successful reply to Rubio’s message.

“It is precise incorrect to enactment impunity for a strongman held accountable by courts successful his ain country. This connection is shameful, and you cognize it.”

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies