Judge Salcedo releases former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe

A judge in Bogotá on Saturday ordered the release of former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, who has been under house arrest since 4 August for alleged procedural fraud and bribery of witnesses.

The judge, Clara Ximena Salcedo Duarte, argued that there can be no deprivation of liberty without charges, "and the one who decides whether to deprive someone of his liberty is a judge at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office," Salcedo reiterated.

After presenting her arguments in detail, the Bogotá criminal judge in charge of guarantees announced her decision to "accede to the request made by the defence, supported by the Public Prosecutor's Office and the representation of the Public Ministry.

"And in that order, and as a consequence, Dr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez will be released immediately," said the judge, who explained that an appeal is possible against this decision.

Uribe, who has been under house arrest since 4 August due to a ruling by the Supreme Court, as a senator, has been under investigation since 2018 through Law 600 for an alleged crime of manipulation of witnesses, by bribing a group of paramilitary prisoners not to testify against him.

However, after Uribe resigned his seat, the representative of the Attorney General's Office, Gabriel Ramón Jaimes Durán, has defended that Law 600, which governs the trial of members of Congress, is incompatible with ordinary justice legislation 906, because "the investigation and the indictment are not the same thing," Durán explained.

The inquiry he refers to is only equivalent to an interrogation, so Uribe must be prosecuted and investigated while he is at liberty, since no charges have been brought against him. That is why the Public Prosecutor's Office requested his release this week, to guarantee his right to a defence.

From his Twitter account, former President Uribe wanted to share his joy with his followers. "Thank God," he wrote upon learning of the sentence.
 

This being so, the judge said, a person's freedom in the new system can only come after charges have been laid. Furthermore, the judge has considered it constitutionally impossible to equate the inquiry with the indictment. From this conclusion, it is not possible to maintain house arrest against Uribe.