Colombian Supreme Court Places Senator and Former President Álvaro Uribe Under House Arrest

!!!

On August 4, 2020, Colombia’s Corte Suprema de Justicia (CJS) ordered house arrest for current Senator and former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez. The former two-term head of state was arrested for alleged procedural fraud and bribery of witnesses. He is the first former president of Colombia to ever be arrested. The Court’s statement justifying the house arrest was blunt and direct, outlining the justices’ unanimous decision to proceed with the trial, pointing to solid evidence, thereby telegraphing the implication that his conviction is more than likely. The immediate result, Uribe’s ejection from the political realm after having dominated it for almost two decades, generated an unprecedented crisis for the administration of President Iván Duque, Uribe’s protégé, and Uribe’s party, the rightwing Centro Democrático, which is now leaderless and hemorrhaging supporters. Editorialists and pundits eagerly weighed in.

To read the full content subscribe today!