Former Colombian President Uribe Sentenced to 12 Years of House Arrest, 8-Year Political Ban

Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was sentenced Friday to 12 years of house arrest after being convicted of bribing witnesses and committing procedural fraud, making him the first Colombian head of state to be criminally convicted and sentenced.

Uribe was first found guilty on July 28 and, days later, Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia of Bogotá's 44th Criminal Court formally issued the sentence, finding Uribe guilty of two counts of procedural fraud and three counts of witness bribery. The lower court judge ruled that Uribe, through his former attorney Diego Cadena, tried to influence judicial proceedings by offering incentives to witnesses in exchange for false testimony.

Court documents show that Cadena approached jailed former paramilitary members and offered them benefits, including money and legal assistance, in return for altering their statements to favor Uribe. These efforts, carried out through letters, intermediaries and recorded conversations, were conducted with the former president's knowledge, according to the ruling.

Cadena, who is also under criminal investigation, has denied any wrongdoing and has continuously testified in Uribe's favor.

Judge Heredia said the evidence was "sufficient to overturn any presumption of innocence." Her 1,114-page decision included a sentence of 144 months of house arrest, a fine equivalent to $578,000, and a ban on holding public office for more than eight years.

Uribe's defense is expected to appeal the ruling, which would move the case to a superior court in Bogotá. That court must issue a decision by mid-October to avoid the case being dismissed due to the statute of limitations, according to El País.

If the superior court upholds the conviction, Uribe's legal team could escalate the case to Colombia's Supreme Court of Justice, where the proceedings originally began.

The case stems from a complaint Uribe filed in 2012 against opposition senator Iván Cepeda, accusing him of manipulating witness testimony to link Uribe to paramilitary groups. But in 2018, the Supreme Court dismissed the case against Cepeda and instead opened an investigation into Uribe, alleging he was the one attempting to bribe witnesses.

Following the ruling, authorities instructed Uribe to report to officials in Rionegro, in the Antioquia department where he lives, and then proceed directly to his home to begin serving his sentence under house arrest.