Colombia’s conviction of a divisive former president is reigniting fierce debates about his all-out war on drugs just as an explosion of cocaine violence rattles the nation anew.

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

By Cynthia Michelle Aranguren Hernández Colombia’s former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez has been found guilty of witness tampering and procedural fraud, becoming the first former head of state in the country’s history to be criminally convicted.

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

Alvaro Uribe, president of Colombia from 2002 to 2010, was wildly popular in rightwing sectors for his war on leftist guerrillas during a particularly vicious period of the country's six-decade-old conflict.

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.

A Colombian court on Monday found Alvaro Uribe guilty of witness tampering, making him the South American country's first ex-president to be convicted of a crime.The judge Monday found him guilty on two charges: interfering with witnesses and "procedural fraud.