Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was found guilty on Monday of witness tampering and judicial fraud after a years-long trial. This makes the right-wing politician the first former president in Colombia’s history to be convicted in court. Uribe’s legal team has already announced plans to appeal the decision.
The verdict marks the latest development in a highly politicized case that has dragged on for 13 years. Uribe, 73, and his supporters claim he is a victim of political persecution and maintain his innocence, while opponents celebrated the ruling. The politician, who served as president of the South American country from 2002 to 2010, has long faced accusations of ties to violent right-wing paramilitary groups. Uribe participated in the court session via video link.
The sentence has not yet been determined. “The judiciary does not kneel before power,” declared Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia Heredia in court on Monday morning before reading her decision — which lasted nearly nine hours. “It serves the Colombian people,” she said. “We want to tell Colombia that justice has been served,” the judge added, noting the verdict spans around 1,000 pages. Both supporters and critics of the former president gathered outside the courthouse.
Some of Uribe’s supporters wore masks bearing his image. Criticism from Marco Rubio The case against Uribe drew sharp criticism from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of the ruling. “Uribe’s only crime was his tireless fight to defend his homeland. The judicial assault by radical judges in Colombia has set a troubling precedent,” Rubio said on X.
Uribe maintained close ties with the United States during his two terms in office. He led a relentless military campaign against drug cartels and the leftist FARC guerrilla group. For decades, Colombia was mired in an armed conflict involving the military, left-wing rebel groups, and right-wing paramilitaries. More than 250,000 people were killed in the violence, and over seven million were internally displaced.
