The Colombian public prosecutor’s office formally accused former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010) on Friday of fraud and witness tampering, during the first criminal trial in this country against a former head of state.
Álvaro Uribe is suspected of having “offered cash and other advantages to certain witnesses of criminal acts so that they conceal the truth”, in a case which links him to paramilitary groups, according to the accusation presented by the prosecutor Gilberto Villarreal.
During the resumption of the trial which began on May 18, the former president, who appeared by videoconference, reiterated his innocence and asked for the charges to be dropped. “I never took the initiative to look for witnesses. I tried to defend my reputation,” said Álvaro Uribe.
Judge Sandra Heredia rejected his request and recognized as possible victims, a senator, the ex-wife of a paramilitary who helped link Álvaro Uribe to these armed groups, and two former prosecutors.
Considered one of the most influential politicians in Colombia, Álvaro Uribe, 71, said he felt “a shock” by being the first ex-president to have to defend himself in court. Accused, on several fronts, of links with drug trafficking and paramilitaries, he suffered a boomerang effect from the Colombian judicial system.
In 2012, he filed a complaint against a left-wing senator, Ivan Cepeda, accusing him of seeking to obtain false testimony linking him to paramilitaries at war against left-wing guerrillas between the 1990s and early 2000s. .
The Supreme Court refrained from prosecuting Ivan Cepeda and instead began investigating Álvaro Uribe. The judges concluded that he himself had tried to manipulate witnesses to discredit his opponent. Facts for which he faces a sentence of 6 to 12 years in prison.
According to his defense, the former senator only contacted witnesses to tell the truth as part of investigations into his possible involvement with paramilitary groups, a link he has always denied.
