Álvaro Uribe, president of Colombia from 2002 to 2010, was found guilty Monday of bribery in a witness tampering case. He is the first former president of the South American country to be criminally convicted.
The ruling was issued by Judge Sandra Heredia of Bogotá’s 44th Criminal Court who concluded that there was sufficient evidence to convict the former president, a member of the opposition Centro Democrático party. The judge is still reading the sentence.
Since the investigation against him began in 2018, Uribe has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He maintained that position throughout the 67-day trial, during which he clashed with Senator Iván Cepeda, of the ruling Pacto Histórico party.
In 2012, Uribe had accused Cepeda of trying to link him to the creation of a paramilitary group – a charge Cepeda rejected – but the Colombian Supreme Court ruled that Uribe should be investigated for alleged witness tampering.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s Michael Rios contributed to this story.
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