Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was sentenced Friday to 12 years of house arrest for witness tampering and bribery, marking a historic verdict against one of the country's most influential political figures. The ruling followed a nearly six-month trial in which prosecutors argued that Uribe, 73, sought to influence witnesses who had accused him of ties to a paramilitary group in the 1990s. Judge Sandra Heredia, who presided over the case, also barred Uribe from holding public office for eight years and imposed a fine of about $776,000. Heredia rejected the defense's request to keep Uribe free during the appeals process, citing the ease with which the former president could leave the country "to evade the imposed sanction." Uribe, who governed from 2002 to 2010 with strong U.S. backing, has denied wrongdoing and vowed to appeal, claiming "politics prevailed over the law." The appeals court has until early October to decide, and the case could still reach Colombia's Supreme Court. The court found that Uribe conspired with a lawyer to pressure three imprisoned ex-paramilitary members into changing testimony they had given to Senator Iván Cepeda, a leftist lawmaker investigating Uribe's alleged paramilitary links. The investigation began in 2018 after the Supreme Court dismissed a libel case Uribe had filed against Cepeda and instead turned its scrutiny on the former president. Uribe remains a polarizing figure: celebrated by supporters for leading military offensives that weakened the FARC insurgency and paved the way for a 2016 peace deal, but condemned by critics who accuse him of human rights abuses and enabling paramilitary violence. The sentence has stirred strong reactions. "It's an unjust sentence. He deserves to be free," said Martha Peñuela Rosales, a supporter in Bogotá. Opponent Sergio Andrés Parra, who protested outside the courthouse, said the ruling sends a lasting message: "Even if he appeals, history has already condemned him." — Agencies
