Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez was convicted Monday of bribing a witness and procedural fraud, following several hours of sentencing.

Mr. Uribe, a towering figure in Colombian politics, was accused of trying to bribe a former paramilitary to retract testimony damaging to him.

Álvaro Uribe has become the first former Colombian president to be convicted of a crime. A court in Bogotá found the 73-year-old, who was president from 2002 to 2010, guilty of witness-tampering and a fraud charge.