The former President of Colombia Alvaro Uribe was sentenced to 12 years of house arrest for attempted bribery and pressure on witnesses. About this informs NBC.
The sentence, which Uribe has vowed to appeal, came after a nearly six-month trial. Prosecutors presented evidence that he tried to influence witnesses who accused him of having ties to paramilitary groups in the 1990s.
“Politics won in this verdict, not the law”, – said Uribe after the court session.
The 73-year-old ex-president denies his guilt. After being found guilty, he faced up to 12 years in prison. Uribe’s lawyer asked the court to keep him free during the appeal period, but Judge Sandra Heredia refused, noting that it would be “easy for the former president to flee the country” to avoid punishment. Judge Heredia emphasized that the evidence provided by the prosecutor’s office shows that Uribe and his lawyer tried to influence three imprisoned former paramilitaries to change their testimony.
In addition, the court banned Uribe from holding public office for 8 years and imposed a fine of about 776,000 US dollars on him. On the eve of the sentencing, Uribe said he was preparing arguments for an appeal. The appeals court should issue a decision by the beginning of October. Both parties will then be able to file an appeal with the Supreme Court of Colombia.
It will be recalled that Uribe was the president of Colombia from 2002 to 2010, enjoying strong support from the United States. His figure causes conflicting assessments: for some, he is a reformer who stabilized the country, for others, a politician involved in human rights violations and the strengthening of the influence of paramilitary structures in the 1990s.
