BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombia’s former President Alvaro Uribe could be tried on allegations of witness tampering, after a judge on Tuesday dismissed a prosecutor request to shelve the probe, reviving a long-running and deeply polarizing case.
The attorney general’s office asked in March 2021 for a hearing on potentially curtailing the investigation, after it found Uribe’s conduct did not constitute a crime.
Uribe and several allies were investigated over allegations of witness tampering carried out in an attempt to discredit accusations he had ties to right-wing paramilitaries. He has always maintained his innocence.
Uribe’s supporters have characterized the process as a persecution, while his detractors have celebrated it as a deserved downfall, making memes featuring his prisoner number from when he was briefly under house arrest.
“Contrary to what has been affirmed by the attorney general, there are probatory elements, physical evidence and legally obtained information that affirms, with a probability of truth, that the criminal conduct of bribery did occur and that Uribe participated,” Bogota judge Laura Barrera said.
Barrera added she would not be the trial judge.
The attorney general’s office can appeal the decision.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta;Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb;Editing by Chris Reese and Stephen Coates)
