BOGOTA, Colombia 

A court in Bogota acquitted former President Alvaro Uribe Velez of bribery and procedural fraud on Tuesday.

The ruling overturns an initial 12-year house arrest sentence that was handed down by Judge Sandra Heredia of Bogotá’s 44th Criminal Court.

The latest ruling was based on the absence of sufficient evidence linking Uribe as the instigator of the crimes. The judges concluded that the evidence "does not prove the malicious intent required to classify Alvaro Uribe Velez as the instigator of punishable conduct,” said Judge Manuel Merchan. The ruling included a strong rebuke of the original trial judge, citing errors in the assessment of evidence and interpretations deemed "fallacious and methodologically flawed.”

The original sentence concluded that Uribe, acting through his lawyer, Diego Cadena, offered benefits to imprisoned individuals to get them to retract statements linking the former president to the creation of the ‘Metro’ bloc of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary group.

Following the acquittal, the victims’ lawyer, Miguel Angel del Rio, immediately announced on US social media platform X that he would appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice.

“We are going to the Supreme Court Justice. This battle is not over,” Del Rio declared.

The ruling drew criticism from President Gustavo Petro, a long-time political rival. Petro posted on X that the judges were "covering up the history of paramilitary governance in Colombia.”

Petro brought US politics into the debate, accusing judges of aiding unnamed political allies of President Donald Trump and Uribe in an attempt to “punish the president who denounced the alliances between Colombian political power and paramilitary drug trafficking.”

The high-profile legal battle has its roots in a political dispute stretching more than a decade. The case originated from a 2012 political debate in Congress between Uribe and Sen. Ivan Cepeda. After Cepeda suggested Uribe’s alleged links to extreme right-wing paramilitary groups, Uribe filed a criminal complaint against the senator. He alleged that Cepeda had irregularly pressured imprisoned former paramilitaries for testimony.

But in 2018, the Supreme Court of Justice dismissed the case against Cepeda due to insufficient evidence. In a dramatic reversal, the court then ordered an investigation into Uribe for alleged witness tampering aimed at discrediting his political adversary. The former leader was effectively accused of manipulating testimony.

The outcome of the legal dispute is widely expected to significantly affect Colombia's political landscape, particularly as the country looks toward the 2026 presidential elections. Uribe, who led Colombia from 2002 - 2010, remains the most prominent opposition figure to Petro’s administration.

Experts warn that the ruling could exacerbate political polarization, which was evident in confrontations between supporters and opponents outside the Paloquemao courthouse after the initial verdict.

The case has also drawn significant international attention, with US political figures expressing concerns about the weaponization of Colombia's judicial system.