Former President Alvaro Uribe appears in court in Colombia
In Colombia, the prosecution has charged former President Alvaro Uribe, who appeared in court, with 'bribery, witness tampering, and procedural fraud.'
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According to reports in the Colombian press, prosecutor Gilberto Villarreal, who is handling the case, charged Uribe—who appeared in court for the first time—with bribery, witness tampering, and procedural fraud.
Uribe's lawyers rejected the prosecutor's charges, arguing that there is no evidence to prove their client is guilty.
It is stated that if found guilty, Uribe could face between 6 and 12 years in prison.
Former President Uribe had previously stated that a political case was being conducted against him and that the accusations were not true.
If found guilty, Uribe will go down in history as the first president in Colombia to be convicted.
THE PROCESS
On September 2, 2020, the Supreme Court of Colombia unanimously transferred the case opened against Uribe, who served as president between 2002 and 2010, to the prosecutor's office due to allegations of bribery, witness tampering, and procedural fraud.
The case began when leftist former Senator Ivan Cepeda filed an application to Congress in 2012, alleging that Uribe had links to former paramilitaries and submitting a motion to Congress for an investigation into the matter.
The Supreme Court decided not to open an investigation into Uribe, who was a member of Congress at the time, but instead approved the filing of a case against the former president to investigate the allegations of witness tampering.