Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was sentenced Friday to 12 years of house arrest for witness tampering and bribery in a historic case that gripped the South American nation and tarnished the conservative strongman's legacy.

The 73-year-old is the first ex-president in Colombia's history to be convicted of a crime.

By bnm Gulf bureau Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez was sentenced to 12 years house arrest for procedural fraud and bribery in criminal proceedings, Bogotá criminal judge Sandra Liliana Heredia ruled on August 1.

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

I t took Judge Sandra Heredia over ten hours on July 28th to read her judgment in the case against Álvaro Uribe, Colombia’s president from 2002 to 2010. Her verdict, when it came, was that he was guilty of arranging the bribing of witnesses and of perverting justice.

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.

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

Former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe has been sentenced to 12 years of house arrest for witness tampering and procedural fraud. The sentence, delivered in the first instance, also includes a fine and a multi-year ban on holding political office,

Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was sentenced Friday to 12 years of house arrest after being found guilty of procedural fraud and witness bribery.

Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez was sentenced Friday to 12 years of house arrest for bribery in criminal proceedings and procedural fraud.

A Colombian judge on Monday convicted former President Alvaro Uribe of abuse of process and bribery of a public official in a long-running witness tampering case, making him the country's first ex-president to ever be found guilty at trial.