A Bogotá court on Friday sentenced former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe to 12 years of house arrest after finding him guilty of procedural fraud and witness tampering. Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia also imposed a fine of about COP 3.2 billion (US$578,000) and barred the 73-year-old from holding public office for more than eight years. Uribe must report to local authorities in Rionegro, Antioquia, before beginning the confinement at his residence. The verdict caps a 13-year legal saga that began when Uribe alleged that left-wing Senator Iván Cepeda had orchestrated false testimony linking him to paramilitary groups. The Supreme Court later ruled that it was Uribe’s associates who tried to bribe jailed paramilitaries to recant their statements, triggering the witness-tampering case transferred to ordinary courts after Uribe resigned from the Senate in 2020. He was acquitted of a lesser charge of simple bribery but convicted on the two main counts. Uribe, who led a U.S.-backed military offensive against guerrillas during his 2002-2010 presidency, denies wrongdoing and will appeal the first-instance ruling by 13 August. His supporters, including several U.S. lawmakers, call the decision politically motivated, while President Gustavo Petro and judicial authorities defend the independence of the courts. The conviction makes Uribe the first Colombian ex-head of state found guilty at trial and intensifies political polarization ahead of the 2026 elections, in which several of his protégés are expected to run.