Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe found guilty of witness bribery and procedural fraud.
The sentence could be between four and eight years, but the possibility of house arrest is being considered.
BarcelonaFormer Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, who governed the country between 2002 and 2010, was sentenced on Monday night for the crimes of bribery of witnesses during a criminal proceeding and procedural fraud. He thus becomes the first former president of the country to be criminally convicted for a crime that could result in a prison sentence of between four and eight years. We will have to wait until Friday, August 1, to find out the specific sentence applied to him.
The sentencing decision in the trial of the century The indictment against Uribe, 73, founder of the right-wing Democratic Center party, was read by Bogotá judge Sandra Heredia in a hearing lasting more than ten hours that has captured the nation's attention on television and social media. According to the judge, the evidence presented by the Prosecutor's Office in the trial was sufficiently solid to grant Uribe a conviction "for the punishable offenses of bribery in criminal proceedings, homogeneous concurrence on three occasions, and heterogeneous concurrence in relation to procedural fraud."
Heredia anticipated that, for these crimes, the law provides for a sentence of "a sum greater than four years and less than eight," but considered that Uribe, whose "gallantry and cordiality" she praised, could serve his sentence under house arrest. However, the prosecutor in the case, years, and a fine of 1,025 current legal minimum wages, equivalent to 1.458 billion Colombian pesos (about $349,000), Efe reports.
The defense will appeal the decision
Uribe's defense attorneys have already announced that they will appeal the sentence to the Superior Court of Bogotá and, if necessary, will go to the criminal cassation division of the Supreme Court of Justice, indicating that a final resolution of the case could take years. "The defense legally disagrees with the assessments expressed by the judge regarding the sentence, which will be discussed through established legal channels. This is not a final decision: former President Uribe's presumption of innocence remains intact, and appeals are still pending," his legal team responded.
