The Superior Court of Bogotá has acquitted the former president of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe, of the crimes of witness tampering and procedural fraud, just eighty days after a judge. Magistrate Manuel Antonio Merchán, in charge of reading the resolution this Tuesday, has described the previous ruling as “deficient in the evaluation of evidence”, in addition to being a sentence that contains “methodological errors and lack of logical rigor.”
For the court, Judge Sandra Heredia incurred “structural deficiencies” when evaluating the evidence, basing her sentence on “subjective” evaluations and “vague and generic premises.” Judge Merchán has stressed that it is not proven “either directly or indirectly that Álvaro Uribe had instigated the crime of bribery” and has considered that the conviction for procedural fraud lacked legal basis. With two votes in favor and one againstthe court acquits the former Colombian president, and leaves open the possibility of presenting an appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice, which may review the case over a period of five years.
The acquittal of Álvaro Uribe marks a new turn in a cause that has accompanied Colombian political life for thirteen years and that has pitted two of the most influential figures in Colombia in recent decades: Álvaro Uribe and Iván Cepeda.
The origin of the case dates back to 2012, when the then senator Álvaro Uribe denounced Iván Cepeda for allegedly manipulating witnesses to link him with the creation of paramilitary groups in Antioquia, which was his political fiefdom. The former president accused his left-wing parliamentary rival of having visited prisons to search for false statements against him. However, the complaint took an unexpected turn when the Supreme Court, which acquitted him today, concluded that Cepeda had not committed any crime. On the other hand, he did find indications that it was Uribe himself who had tried to influence imprisoned former paramilitaries to discredit his accuser.
In the following years, the judicial investigation became a symbol of national polarization. Uribe always denied the facts, ensuring that he was a victim of political persecution, but in August of this year, Judge Sandra Heredia handed down a sentence that has made history: guilty of witness manipulation and procedural fraud, with a sentence of twelve years of house arrest, and a fine that exceeds 720,000 euros, as well as his disqualification. With that ruling, Uribe became the first former Colombian president criminally convicted.
“This is how the history of paramilitarism is covered up”
The acquittal of Álvaro Uribe has had an immediate effect on the Colombian political scene. President Gustavo Petro reacted harshly, accusing the court of “covering up the history of paramilitary governance in Colombia.” “This is how the history of the politicians who came to power allied with drug trafficking and who unleashed the genocide in Colombia is hidden,” the Colombian president wrote on his X account.
In that same message, Gustavo Petro also denounces that the court declares illegal the telephone recording in which Álvaro Uribe’s voice is heard talking about bribes. “He affirms that the judicial interception carried out on a criminal, where Uribe’s voice appears, is privacy,” the president added. For him, the ruling is not only a legal error, but “the repetition of a history” in which those responsible for violence go unpunished and justice once again places itself on the side of political power.
After learning of the decision, the president has called for a mobilization this Friday in Bogotá, where he will begin collecting signatures to promote what he calls constituent power, an initiative with which he intends to strengthen citizen support for his Government. “The time for definitions has come,” he stated, in a message that rekindles tension between the Executive and the Uribista opposition.
On the other hand, the senator Ivan Cepedacomplainant in the case and one of Uribe’s historical adversaries, has announced that he will present an appeal before the Supreme Court of Justice. The parliamentarian, credited as a victim in the process, maintained that the court ignored substantial facts and evidence that, in his opinion, clearly pointed to the former president’s responsibility. He also criticized that the magistrates overlooked essential elements, such as the wiretapping of calls between Uribe and his lawyer Diego Cadena, sentenced to seven years of house arrest. He also reproached Judge Manuel Antonio Merchán for the alleged misrepresentation of the testimonies and the former president’s relationships with other participants in the process.
Former President Iván Duque has celebrated Uriba’s acquittal, stating that “justice has been done” and that “the innocence that he has proven throughout his life, and after so many infamies, has prevailed.” In his message, published on Elon Musk’s social network, in It has been more prudent, Juan Manuel Santoswho governed between the two, who has asked for institutional respect for the sentence: “Judicial rulings are always followed, not according to convenience or political calculation. Judicial independence is the basis of a solid democracy,” he stressed in a message to lower the political temperature.
An acquittal with a domino effect
The acquittal of Álvaro Uribe has not only shaken Colombian politics, but comes at a time when relations between Bogotá and Washington are going through a new diplomatic crisis, after Donald Trump accused the Colombian president of being a drug trafficking leader and threatened to impose tariffs on Colombian exports. An attack that Gustavo Petro interpreted as a form of political interference and has strained bilateral ties, reactivating the debate on the role of the United States in Latin America.
In this context, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, celebrated the ruling of the Superior Court of Bogotá and stated that “justice has prevailed after years of political hunting against Uribe and his family.” The statements, released by Reuters, reinforce the perception that the former Colombian president continues to have support in conservative circles in Washington, where he is considered a key ally in the fight against drugs and regional stability.
Uribe, who has always denied the charges and has denounced “political persecution,” could return to the Senate if his judicial situation allows it. In fact, his name is already in position number 25 on the Democratic Center’s closed list for the legislative elections next March, a gesture that anticipates his return to the political scene after years of wear and tear.
Thirteen years after the beginning of the process, the figure of Álvaro Uribe continues to divide the country between those who consider him a symbol of impunity and those who see him as the leader who managed to contain the violence in the harshest years of the conflict. The ruling of the Superior Court of Bogotá does not close the case, but it returns the former president to the center of the political board and confirms that, in Colombia, the border between justice and power continues to be porous.
