Colombian ex-President Álvaro Uribe is sentenced to 12 years house arrest for bribery

BOGOTA Colombia AP Former Colombian President lvaro Uribe was sentenced Friday to years of house arrest for witness tampering and bribery in a historic affair that gripped the South American nation and tarnished the conservative strongman s legacy The sentence which Uribe announced will be appealed followed a nearly six-month trial in which prosecutors presented evidence that he attempted to influence spectators who accused the law-and-order leader of having links to a paramilitary group in the s Politics prevailed over the law in sentencing Uribe mentioned after Friday s hearing Uribe has denied any wrongdoing He faced up to years in prison after being convicted Monday His attorney had inquired the court to allow Uribe to remain free while he appeals the verdict Judge Sandra Heredia on Friday explained she did not grant the defense s request because it would be easy for the former president to leave the country to evade the imposed sanction Heredia also banned Uribe from holding community office for eight years and fined him about Ahead of Friday s sentencing Uribe posted on X that he was preparing arguments to help his appeal He added that one must think much more about the fix than the dilemma during personal crises The appeals court will have until early October to issue a ruling which either party could then challenge before Colombia s Supreme Court The former president governed from to with strong advocacy from the United States He is a polarizing figure in Colombia where multiple credit him for saving the country from becoming a failed state while others associate him with human rights violations and the rise of paramilitary groups in the s Heredia on Monday announced she had seen enough evidence to determine that Uribe conspired with a lawyer to coax three former paramilitary group members who were in prison into changing testimony they had provided to Ivan Cepeda a leftist senator who had launched an inquiry into Uribe s alleged ties to a paramilitary group Uribe in filed a libel suit against Cepeda in the Supreme Court But in a twist the high court in dismissed the accusations against Cepeda and began inspecting Uribe Martha Pe uela Rosales a supporter of Uribe s party in the capital Bogota declared she wept and prayed after hearing of the sentence It s an unjust sentence He deserves to be free she commented Meanwhile Sergio Andr s Parra who protested against Uribe outside the courthouse mentioned the -year sentence is enough and even if the former president appeals history has already condemned him During Uribe s presidency Colombia s military attained particular of its biggest battlefield victories against Latin America s oldest leftist insurgency pushing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia into remote pockets and forcing the group s leadership into peace talks that led to the disarmament of more than fighters in Source