Colombia ex-president Uribe guilty of bribing official
Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia read her decision to the court over the course of some 10 hours. She found the right-wing politician not guilty of a separate bribery charge.
The ruling, which Uribe's legal team said he will appeal, is the latest decision in a hugely politicised case that has run for about 13 years.
Uribe, 73, and his supporters say the process is a persecution and that he is innocent. His detractors have celebrated it as the deserved downfall for a man who has been repeatedly accused of close relationships with violent right-wing paramilitaries, but never convicted of any crime.
Each charge carries a jail sentence of between six and 12 years. Heredia is expected to sentence Uribe in a later hearing.
"Justice does not kneel before power," Heredia told the court. "It is at the service of the Colombian people."
"We want to say to Colombia that justice has arrived," she said, adding that her full decision is some 1000 pages long.
Uribe and one of his lawyers, Jaime Granados, joined the hearing via video link, while another lawyer, Jaime Lombana, appeared in person.
Granados said the presumption of Uribe's innocence should be maintained and asked for him to remain free during the remainder of the process, a decision Heredia said she will take on Friday.
Even if the conviction is eventually upheld, Uribe may be allowed to serve his sentence on house arrest because of his age.
Uribe, who was president from 2002 to 2010 and oversaw a military offensive against leftist guerrilla groups, was investigated along with several allies over allegations of witness tampering carried out in an attempt to discredit accusations he had ties to paramilitaries.
Judges have twice rejected requests by prosecutors to shelve the case, which stems from Uribe's allegation in 2012 that leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda had orchestrated a plot to tie him to paramilitaries.
The Supreme Court said in 2018 that Cepeda had collected information from former fighters as part of his work and had not paid or pressured former paramilitaries. Instead, the court said it was Uribe and his allies who pressured witnesses.
Uribe's trial triggered sharp criticism from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of the judge's decision.
"Uribe's only crime has been to tirelessly fight and defend his homeland. The weaponisation of Colombia's judicial branch by radical judges has now set a worrisome precedent," Rubio said on X.
Uribe, who was placed under house arrest for two months in 2020, is head of the powerful Democratic Centre party and was a senator for years both before and after his presidency.
Uribe joins a list of Latin American leaders who have been convicted and sometimes jailed, including Peru's Alberto Fujimori, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Argentina's Cristina Fernandez and Panama's Ricardo Martinelli.
Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe has been found guilty of abuse of process and bribery of a public official in a years-long witness-tampering case, making the right-wing politician the country's first ex-president convicted at trial.
Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia read her decision to the court over the course of some 10 hours. She found the right-wing politician not guilty of a separate bribery charge.
The ruling, which Uribe's legal team said he will appeal, is the latest decision in a hugely politicised case that has run for about 13 years.
Uribe, 73, and his supporters say the process is a persecution and that he is innocent. His detractors have celebrated it as the deserved downfall for a man who has been repeatedly accused of close relationships with violent right-wing paramilitaries, but never convicted of any crime.
Each charge carries a jail sentence of between six and 12 years. Heredia is expected to sentence Uribe in a later hearing.
"Justice does not kneel before power," Heredia told the court. "It is at the service of the Colombian people."
"We want to say to Colombia that justice has arrived," she said, adding that her full decision is some 1000 pages long.
Uribe and one of his lawyers, Jaime Granados, joined the hearing via video link, while another lawyer, Jaime Lombana, appeared in person.
Granados said the presumption of Uribe's innocence should be maintained and asked for him to remain free during the remainder of the process, a decision Heredia said she will take on Friday.
Even if the conviction is eventually upheld, Uribe may be allowed to serve his sentence on house arrest because of his age.
Uribe, who was president from 2002 to 2010 and oversaw a military offensive against leftist guerrilla groups, was investigated along with several allies over allegations of witness tampering carried out in an attempt to discredit accusations he had ties to paramilitaries.
Judges have twice rejected requests by prosecutors to shelve the case, which stems from Uribe's allegation in 2012 that leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda had orchestrated a plot to tie him to paramilitaries.
The Supreme Court said in 2018 that Cepeda had collected information from former fighters as part of his work and had not paid or pressured former paramilitaries. Instead, the court said it was Uribe and his allies who pressured witnesses.
Uribe's trial triggered sharp criticism from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of the judge's decision.
"Uribe's only crime has been to tirelessly fight and defend his homeland. The weaponisation of Colombia's judicial branch by radical judges has now set a worrisome precedent," Rubio said on X.
Uribe, who was placed under house arrest for two months in 2020, is head of the powerful Democratic Centre party and was a senator for years both before and after his presidency.
Uribe joins a list of Latin American leaders who have been convicted and sometimes jailed, including Peru's Alberto Fujimori, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Argentina's Cristina Fernandez and Panama's Ricardo Martinelli.
Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe has been found guilty of abuse of process and bribery of a public official in a years-long witness-tampering case, making the right-wing politician the country's first ex-president convicted at trial.
Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia read her decision to the court over the course of some 10 hours. She found the right-wing politician not guilty of a separate bribery charge.
The ruling, which Uribe's legal team said he will appeal, is the latest decision in a hugely politicised case that has run for about 13 years.
Uribe, 73, and his supporters say the process is a persecution and that he is innocent. His detractors have celebrated it as the deserved downfall for a man who has been repeatedly accused of close relationships with violent right-wing paramilitaries, but never convicted of any crime.
Each charge carries a jail sentence of between six and 12 years. Heredia is expected to sentence Uribe in a later hearing.
"Justice does not kneel before power," Heredia told the court. "It is at the service of the Colombian people."
"We want to say to Colombia that justice has arrived," she said, adding that her full decision is some 1000 pages long.
Uribe and one of his lawyers, Jaime Granados, joined the hearing via video link, while another lawyer, Jaime Lombana, appeared in person.
Granados said the presumption of Uribe's innocence should be maintained and asked for him to remain free during the remainder of the process, a decision Heredia said she will take on Friday.
Even if the conviction is eventually upheld, Uribe may be allowed to serve his sentence on house arrest because of his age.
Uribe, who was president from 2002 to 2010 and oversaw a military offensive against leftist guerrilla groups, was investigated along with several allies over allegations of witness tampering carried out in an attempt to discredit accusations he had ties to paramilitaries.
Judges have twice rejected requests by prosecutors to shelve the case, which stems from Uribe's allegation in 2012 that leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda had orchestrated a plot to tie him to paramilitaries.
The Supreme Court said in 2018 that Cepeda had collected information from former fighters as part of his work and had not paid or pressured former paramilitaries. Instead, the court said it was Uribe and his allies who pressured witnesses.
Uribe's trial triggered sharp criticism from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of the judge's decision.
"Uribe's only crime has been to tirelessly fight and defend his homeland. The weaponisation of Colombia's judicial branch by radical judges has now set a worrisome precedent," Rubio said on X.
Uribe, who was placed under house arrest for two months in 2020, is head of the powerful Democratic Centre party and was a senator for years both before and after his presidency.
Uribe joins a list of Latin American leaders who have been convicted and sometimes jailed, including Peru's Alberto Fujimori, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Argentina's Cristina Fernandez and Panama's Ricardo Martinelli.
Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe has been found guilty of abuse of process and bribery of a public official in a years-long witness-tampering case, making the right-wing politician the country's first ex-president convicted at trial.
Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia read her decision to the court over the course of some 10 hours. She found the right-wing politician not guilty of a separate bribery charge.
The ruling, which Uribe's legal team said he will appeal, is the latest decision in a hugely politicised case that has run for about 13 years.
Uribe, 73, and his supporters say the process is a persecution and that he is innocent. His detractors have celebrated it as the deserved downfall for a man who has been repeatedly accused of close relationships with violent right-wing paramilitaries, but never convicted of any crime.
Each charge carries a jail sentence of between six and 12 years. Heredia is expected to sentence Uribe in a later hearing.
"Justice does not kneel before power," Heredia told the court. "It is at the service of the Colombian people."
"We want to say to Colombia that justice has arrived," she said, adding that her full decision is some 1000 pages long.
Uribe and one of his lawyers, Jaime Granados, joined the hearing via video link, while another lawyer, Jaime Lombana, appeared in person.
Granados said the presumption of Uribe's innocence should be maintained and asked for him to remain free during the remainder of the process, a decision Heredia said she will take on Friday.
Even if the conviction is eventually upheld, Uribe may be allowed to serve his sentence on house arrest because of his age.
Uribe, who was president from 2002 to 2010 and oversaw a military offensive against leftist guerrilla groups, was investigated along with several allies over allegations of witness tampering carried out in an attempt to discredit accusations he had ties to paramilitaries.
Judges have twice rejected requests by prosecutors to shelve the case, which stems from Uribe's allegation in 2012 that leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda had orchestrated a plot to tie him to paramilitaries.
The Supreme Court said in 2018 that Cepeda had collected information from former fighters as part of his work and had not paid or pressured former paramilitaries. Instead, the court said it was Uribe and his allies who pressured witnesses.
Uribe's trial triggered sharp criticism from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of the judge's decision.
"Uribe's only crime has been to tirelessly fight and defend his homeland. The weaponisation of Colombia's judicial branch by radical judges has now set a worrisome precedent," Rubio said on X.
Uribe, who was placed under house arrest for two months in 2020, is head of the powerful Democratic Centre party and was a senator for years both before and after his presidency.
Uribe joins a list of Latin American leaders who have been convicted and sometimes jailed, including Peru's Alberto Fujimori, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Argentina's Cristina Fernandez and Panama's Ricardo Martinelli.
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