On the 1st, a court in the Colombian capital Bogotá issued a first-instance verdict, finding former President Uribe guilty of bribery and fraud, and sentenced him to 12 years of house arrest. Uribe has become the first former president in Colombia's history to be criminally convicted.
● Fined 3.55 million ringgit
According to Xinhua News Agency, in addition to 12 years of house arrest, the verdict also imposed a fine of 3.4 billion pesos (about 3.55 million ringgit) on Uribe, and deprived him of eligibility to hold public office for 100 months and 20 days.
Uribe expressed his dissatisfaction and has filed an appeal. The case will be transferred to the Bogotá Higher Court for the second trial.
Uribe, 73, served as President of Colombia from 2002 to 2010. Before that, he served as governor of Antioquia, a northwestern province, from 1995 to 1998. In 2012, Colombian Senator Iván Cepeda accused Uribe of having ties with paramilitary organizations in Antioquia and certain drug trafficking groups. Uribe denied these allegations and accused Cepeda of pressuring former armed personnel during prison visits to make false accusations.
In 2018, the Colombian Supreme Court ruled that Cepeda did not engage in bribery or coercion during the evidence collection process. In 2024, the Colombian Attorney General's Office formally filed a lawsuit in court, accusing Uribe of bribery, fraud, and other crimes.