Police stand in entrance of a banner studying in Spanish “Uribe responsible” displayed by opponents of former President Alvaro Uribe outdoors the courtroom the place a verdict is predicted in his trial for witness tampering in Bogota, Colombia, on July 28, 2025.
Fernando Vergara/AP
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Fernando Vergara/AP
BOGOTA, Colombia — Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was convicted of witness tampering and bribery Monday in a historic trial that gripped the South American nation and threatened to tarnish the conservative strongman’s legacy.
The ruling adopted a virtually six-month trial by which prosecutors offered proof that Uribe tried to affect witnesses who accused the law-and-order chief of getting hyperlinks to a paramilitary group based by ranchers within the Nineties.
Uribe, 73, was not in courtroom within the capital, Bogota, for the decision because the decide has to date not ordered his arrest. He adopted the ruling from his residence outdoors Medellin however didn’t instantly discuss it.
Uribe faces as much as 12 years in jail however a sentencing will likely be delivered in a separate listening to. He’s anticipated to attraction the ruling.
The previous president, who ruled from 2002 to 2010 with robust assist from america, is a polarizing determine in Colombia, the place many credit score him for saving the nation from turning into a failed state, whereas others affiliate him with human rights violations and the rise of paramilitary teams within the Nineties.
Whereas the ruling was learn, Uribe’s opponents clashed briefly along with his supporters outdoors the courthouse.
In a ruling that lasted greater than 10 hours, Choose Sandra Heredia mentioned there was sufficient proof to find out that Uribe conspired with a lawyer to coax three former members of paramilitary teams who have been in jail into altering testimony they’d supplied to Ivan Cepeda, a left-wing senator who had launched an investigation into Uribe’s alleged ties to a paramilitary group.
The case dates to 2012, when Uribe filed a libel swimsuit towards Cepeda with the Supreme Courtroom. However in a twist, the excessive courtroom dismissed the costs towards Cepeda and started investigating Uribe in 2018.
Throughout Uribe’s presidency, Colombia’s navy attained a few of its largest battlefield victories towards Latin America’s oldest leftist insurgency, pushing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia into distant pockets and forcing the group’s management into peace talks that led to the disarmament of greater than 13,000 fighters in 2016.
Identified for his tireless work ethic and quick mood, Uribe nonetheless has legions of followers in Colombia and is likely one of the fiercest opponents of the present president, former leftist guerrilla Gustavo Petro.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacted to the ruling, because it grew to become evident that Choose Heredia was going to seek out the previous president responsible of bribery.
“Uribe’s solely crime has been to tirelessly combat and defend his homeland” Rubio wrote on Monday on X. “The weaponization of Colombia’s judicial department by radical judges has now set a worrisome precedent.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro defended the ruling, writing on X that “a powerful justice system” will allow Colombia to emerge from violence. He added in one other message that Rubio was interfering with Colombia’s sovereignty.
“The world should respect the judges of Colombia” Petro wrote.
Heredia mentioned that her ruling shouldn’t be interpreted as “a victory for anybody” however as “an act of justice.”
Critics additionally blame Uribe for state crimes. In line with a reality fee created in 2017, greater than 6,400 civilians have been executed by the Colombian navy and recognized as members of insurgent teams by troopers searching for promotions through the battle, in a phenomenon that peaked through the Uribe administration.
Prosecutors accused Uribe of sending legal professionals to fulfill with imprisoned former paramilitary henchmen and strain them to drop testimony that they’d supplied to Senator Cepeda.
Through the trial, Uribe denied making an attempt to flip witnesses however acknowledged searching for interviews with the boys as a part of his preparation for trial and to confirm testimonies that have been additionally being utilized in a homicide trial towards his brother, Santiago Uribe, who was additionally accused of ties to the armed paramilitaries.
Cepeda spoke to journalists after the ruling, and mentioned that he would proceed to combat for “reality and justice” for victims of Colombia’s battle. “Nobody can defy and taint the rule of legislation,” he mentioned.
