Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe blasts impending criminal charges
Al Jazeera
Prosecutors announced this week they intended to pursue the right-wing Uribe on charges of witness tampering and fraud.
Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has denounced the charges he faces as an act of political retribution, as he confronts the prospect of a history-making criminal case.
Never before has a Colombian president stood trial on criminal charges. But earlier this week, the office of Colombia’s attorney general, Luz Adriana Camargo Garzon, announced that prosecutors would file a criminal complaint alleging Uribe participated in witness tampering and fraud.
On Wednesday, Uribe responded with a video statement broadcast to social media.
“The trial is being carried out for political persecution, for personal condemnation, for political revenge, without proof that I sought to bribe witnesses or deceive justice,” Uribe, 71, said.
He underscored that there was no evidence linking him to any wrongdoing, nor to any of the paramilitary groups embroiled in Colombia’s decades-long internal conflict.
