Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to face trial on bribery, manipulation charges

By Sinan Dogan

Former President Alvaro Uribe will appear before a judge on "bribery, witness manipulation, and fraudulent conduct related to procedure" charges, according to Colombia's Attorney General's Office.

If found guilty, Uribe will go down in history as the first president of Colombia to receive a criminal conviction.

"Today marks the beginning of a process that we believe is fair. We have full confidence that justice will prevail after the trial," Sen. Ivan Cepeda said Tuesday after the charges were brought after the former president.

Uribe's lawyer, Jaime Granados, announced that his team has not received official documentation regarding the prosecution's decision or allegations circulating in the media.

Former President Ivan Duque, in a post on social media said, "We stand with Uribe. These accusations against him are baseless and unjust. He dedicated his entire life to Colombia, and we follow these accusations with sadness."

The Colombian Supreme Court unanimously decided to transfer the case against Uribe, who served from 2002 to 2010, to the prosecutor's office on Sept. 2, 2020, regarding allegations of bribery, witness manipulation and fraudulent conduct related to procedure.

The case began when leftist Cepeda submitted an application to Congress in 2012, alleging Uribe's connection with former paramilitaries and demanded an investigation, which led to a resolution in Congress.

The Supreme Court decided not to open an investigation against Uribe as a member of Congress but instead approved the filing of a lawsuit against the former president for a probe into allegations of witness manipulation.