Overview
- Two of three magistrates voted to absolve Álvaro Uribe, with a dissent from María Leonor Oviedo, in a 700‑page decision authored by Manuel Antonio Merchán and read in a virtual hearing.
- The court excluded as illegal the phone intercepts of Uribe, found no sufficient direct or inferential proof of bribery of witnesses or procedural fraud, and criticized methodological errors in the first‑instance ruling.
- Uribe was cleared in the witness cases involving Carlos Enrique Vélez, Eurídice Cortés and Juan Guillermo Monsalve, and in a fraud count linked to a letter attributed to Juan Carlos “Tuso” Sierra.
- The August first‑instance judgment by Judge Sandra Heredia that imposed 12 years of house arrest was revoked, and parties including victims’ lawyers and the Fiscalía have the option to seek Supreme Court review.
- President Gustavo Petro denounced the decision and called for a rally in Bogotá, while Uribe’s Centro Democrático hailed the outcome as it recalibrates for the 2026 election cycle.