Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe withdrew this Wednesday from a preparatory hearing for the trial against him for the crimes of bribery, procedural fraud and bribery in criminal proceedings, alleging a lack of guarantees, since he said that his defense did not receive the physical evidence and evidence in time. of the case.
“The defense strategy to reach a preparatory hearing largely depends on what that expert report finds, so here they are affecting a fundamental right, which is the defense strategy (…) They have denied me the evidence and I must withdraw of this hearing, Madam Judge“said Uribe at the hearing.
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Uribe’s defense had asked to postpone the hearing for a week because he had not received the “mirror copy or original source and a cell phone provided by one of the alleged victims.”
“The defense and its investigation team and experts have acted with diligence and respect before the Prosecutor’s Office and the Supreme Court of Justice in order to obtain them. However, due to the latter’s internal procedures (…) the delivery could only be completed on Monday, September 30 at the end of the afternoon“said Jaime Granados, one of the former president’s lawyers, in a statement.
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The lawyer considered that the postponement request was “legitimate and reasonable” and sought to guarantee the rights to defense and the materialization of Uribe’s principle of equality of arms.
“In these circumstances, the defense cannot validate with a complicit silence or a passive attitude that the rights and guarantees of Dr. Uribe Vélez as a defendant are violated,” said Granados, who warned that he will file a protection action (recourse for protection) to request precautionary measures that suspend “the criminal proceedings at this stage” until “the violation of fundamental rights is resolved.”“.
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Alvaro Uribe
EFE
In ruling, the judge heeded a suggestion from the prosecutor to let him intervene on October 8, and the technical defense on the 9th. Uribe’s main lawyer, Jaime Granados, filed a protection in the Superior Court of Bogotá in order to stop this high school through a precautionary measure because he considers that the judge violated due process by not giving them sufficient time to examine the computer and seized cell phone to Monsalve.
Case that started in 2012
Alvaro Uribe
Juan Diego Buitrago / Portfolio
The long lawsuit dates back to 2012 when Uribe, who was a senator, sued left-wing congressman Iván Cepeda for alleged witness tampering, who at that time was preparing a complaint against him for alleged links to paramilitarism.
Contrary to what Uribe expected, The Supreme Court of Justice did not open an investigation against the left-wing congressman and, instead, initiated a process against the former president for witness manipulation.
The bribery accusation has to do with the alleged payment of bribes to Carlos Enrique Vélez and Juan Guillermo Monsalve, who are imprisoned in the Palmira and La Picota prisons in Bogotá, respectively.
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Monsalve, a former paramilitary, assured that there was a whole strategy to approach him and convince him to testify against Cepeda.
The former president has been insisting for years that this is a case against him that is politically motivated and lacks evidence.
Uribe He resigned from his senatorial seat in August 2020 to stop being qualified and for his case to go to the ordinary courts and then the Prosecutor’s Office decided that there was no evidence to pursue him. judicially.
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For this reason, he requested the preclusion of the case on two occasions, which was denied both by the first instance courts presented and by the Superior Court of Bogotá, until this year the Prosecutor’s Office decided to accuse the former president, who governed Colombia between 2002 and 2010.
EFE
