Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Sentenced to Twelve Years of House Arrest

(Patria) - Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was sentenced on Friday to twelve years of house arrest for procedural fraud and bribery of a public official, in a long-running case related to ties with former right-wing paramilitaries, Reuters reported.

Uribe was convicted on two counts by Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia on Monday in a witness tampering case that has been ongoing for about thirteen years. He has always maintained his innocence.

Heredia read the verdict to the court at a hearing on Friday. Uribe will be fined $578,000, according to the verdict, and will be banned from holding public office for more than eight years.

Uribe, whose legal team said they would appeal the verdict, is to report to authorities in Rionegro, in the Antioquia province where he lives, and then "immediately proceed to his residence where he will comply with house arrest," the verdict stated.

Uribe and his lawyers appeared virtually at the afternoon hearing. An appeal hearing is scheduled for August 4.

The conviction makes Uribe the first former president of the country to be found guilty in a trial, and it comes less than a year before Colombia's 2026 presidential elections, in which several of Uribe's allies and protégés are competing for the top job.

It could have implications for Colombia's relations with the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that Uribe's conviction was "weaponized by the Colombian judiciary by radical judges," and analysts said a reduction in U.S. aid could follow in response.

Uribe (73) and his supporters have always claimed the process is a persecution, while his opponents have celebrated it as a deserved punishment for a man who for decades has been accused of close ties to violent right-wing paramilitaries, but has never been convicted of any crime until now.

Testimonies from Former Paramilitary Members

Uribe, who was president from 2002 to 2010 and oversaw a military offensive against left-wing guerrillas, is accused of allegedly ordering a lawyer to bribe incarcerated paramilitary members to discredit claims that he had ties to their organizations.

Those claims stemmed from left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda, who gathered testimonies from former paramilitary members who said Uribe supported their organizations in Antioquia, where he once served as governor.

In 2012, Uribe claimed Cepeda orchestrated testimonies in a conspiracy to link him to paramilitaries, but the Supreme Court ruled six years later that Cepeda had not paid or pressured former paramilitary members. Instead, the court said Uribe and his allies had pressured witnesses. Cepeda was classified as a victim in this case and personally attended the hearings on Monday and Friday.

Two former paramilitary members who were in prison testified that Diego Cadena, a lawyer who previously represented Uribe, had offered them money to testify in Uribe's favor.

Cadena, who also faces charges, has denied the accusations and testified, along with several other former paramilitary members, in Uribe's favor.

Each charge carried a potential sentence of six to twelve years. Uribe, who was under house arrest for two months in 2020, is the president of the powerful Democratic Center party and had been a senator for years before and after his presidency.

He has repeatedly emphasized that he extradited paramilitary leaders to the United States.
The Colombian Truth Commission says that paramilitary groups, which demobilized in accordance with agreements with the Uribe government, killed more than 205,000 people, nearly half of the 450,000 deaths recorded during the ongoing civil conflict.

Paramilitary groups, along with guerrilla groups and members of the armed forces, also committed forced disappearances, sexual violence, displacement, and other crimes.

Uribe joins a list of Latin American leaders who have been convicted, and sometimes imprisoned, including Alberto Fujimori of Peru, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Cristina Fernandez of Argentina, and Ricardo Martinelli of Panama.