Bogotá Appeals Court Acquits Álvaro Uribe, Annuls 2018 Wiretaps

Overview

• The Tribunal Superior de Bogotá overturned the August first‑instance conviction that had imposed 12 years of house detention for alleged witness tampering and procedural fraud.
• Judge Manuel Antonio Merchán said the earlier ruling relied on methodological errors and interpretive fallacies and did not establish criminal intent or proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
• The decision is subject to further challenge, with victims’ lawyer Miguel Ángel del Río announcing an appeal to Colombia’s Supreme Court and President Gustavo Petro publicly criticizing the ruling.
• The appellate panel also ordered an investigation of ex‑paramilitary Carlos Enrique Vélez Ramírez for possible false testimony linked to the case.
• Key evidence disputes in the saga include a secretly recorded approach by Uribe’s lawyer Diego Cadena to witness Juan Guillermo Monsalve; Cadena has been separately sentenced to seven years of house arrest for subornation.