Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, on trial for bribing witnesses

Bogota. The former president of Colombia Álvaro Uribe Vélez (2002-2010) will be called to trial on charges of bribing witnesses and procedural fraud, the Attorney General’s Office (attorney general’s office) reported today, clarifying that for now he will not be taken to prison and “he will be able to defend himself in freedom.”

Uribe Vélez, top leader of the country’s right-wing forces, was a victim of the effect boomerangsince he was immersed in a judicial investigation against him after trying to have the left-wing senator Iván Cepeda prosecuted for the alleged crime of witness tampering.

Just three weeks after the inauguration of Luz Adriana Camargo as the new Attorney General, this entity filed an indictment to bring the former president to trial, who will know in the coming days which criminal court will hold the hearing. formalization of the charges against him.

Gilberto Villarreal, prosecutor delegated to the Supreme Court of Justice, gave an unexpected turn to the management of the prosecution, which on two previous occasions had requested the closure of the investigations being carried out against Uribe Vélez.

Villarreal said that he made the decision after examining all the testimonies of the witnesses, mostly former paramilitaries who were serving sentences in various prisons in the country, where they were approached by the former president’s lawyers to change their versions in exchange for money. assets and judicial benefits.

“The Attorney General’s Office guarantees the right to due process in all actions under its responsibility and now the investigated person and his defense will have the opportunity to request evidence and participate in the oral debate,” the prosecuting body announced.

The reactions to the prosecutor’s decision were immediate, especially from spokespersons for the opposition parties, such as councilor Rolando Rodríguez, who described the judicial decision as “political” and warned that it will lead to greater polarization of the Colombian society. “The march that had been called to protest against the government on April 21 will now be a gigantic expression of solidarity with former President Uribe to which millions of Colombians will come out,” Rodríguez predicted.