Colombia’s Former President Uribe Denies Fraud Charges

Former President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, speaks for the first time following the call to trial requested by the office of Colombia’s attorney general before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, April 9. Uribe, facing charges of judicial fraud and witness tampering, read a statement on his social media on the morning of Wednesday, April 10th, where he defended himself against the accusations.

The former president asserted that he never instigated to change or silence witness testimonies, stating that “the trial is being conducted based on political presumptions, personal animosities, and political vendettas, without evidence to infer that I sought to bribe witnesses or deceive justice.” The case has been ongoing for over five years in the judicial courts and is a story in which he went from accuser to accuser, including a period of house arrest.

The underlying reasons behind Uribe’s Trial

The roots of the case trace back nine years, when Uribe was a senator, and Congressman Ivan Cepeda denounced alleged links between the former president and far-right paramilitary groups during a debate. Immediately, Uribe filed a complaint against Cepeda before the Supreme Court of Justice, arguing that his claims were based on witnesses who, from prison, allegedly received benefits in exchange for testimonies against him.

One such piece of evidence, according to the Office of Communications of the Attorney General, is the testimony of former paramilitary Juan Guillermo Monsalve, who has stated on several occasions that Diego Cadena, Uribe’s former lawyer, contacted him to change his testimony about the Uribes’s alleged links with paramilitary groups. In his statement, the politician mentioned that “the friendship between Senator Cepeda and witness Monsalve is evident,” pointing out that there are at least 7 documented meetings between them, and it is established and unrefuted that Senator Cepeda intervened to prevent Monsalve from being transferred to Valledupar prison.

Uribe links trial request with Colombia’s peace process

Uribe also linked the accusations against him with the ongoing peace process, stating: “This manipulation against me signals being part of the motivation for a total peace agreement or a final point law, then they forgive criminals as they did with the FARC and justify it with the fiction of forgiving those of us who have not committed crimes.” He pointed out that the call for trial against him also coincides with the return of Mancuso to the country, who was extradited under his government.

According to Uribe, he became aware of the process when he was called in for questioning between July 2018 and August 2020, and he harshly criticized the fact that the judges deemed him a dangerous person for society but kept him free for more than 10 and 15 months while the inquiries were ongoing. “They considered me a danger to society but kept me free all that time,” the politician mentioned.

Uribe, who also claimed to have never involved others in criminal activities, will have to be held accountable for the crimes for which he could incur 6 to 12 years of prison. Thus, the former president became the first person to hold the head of the Colombian state to be called to a criminal trial.