Bogota [Colombia], August 2 (ANI): Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has been sentenced to 12 years of house arrest following his conviction for witness-tampering and bribery, Al Jazeera reported.

The sentencing on Friday also imposed a fine of $578,000 and a public office ban lasting 100 months and 20 days, just over eight years, on the 73-year-old leader, according to Al Jazeera.

Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia ordered Uribe to report to authorities in Rionegro, his hometown in the Antioquia province, and 'proceed immediately to his residence where he will comply with house arrest'.

Uribe, a prominent conservative figure who served as Colombia's president from 2002 to 2010, is the first former head of state in the country to be found guilty in a criminal trial, Al Jazeera said.

His lawyers have announced plans to appeal the verdict, which followed a six-month trial and nearly 13 years of legal proceedings.

The case relates to Colombia's protracted internal conflict, involving government forces, paramilitary groups, left-wing rebels, and drug traffickers. As president, Uribe led a fierce offensive against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's largest guerrilla group at the time.

However, his administration faced criticism for alleged human rights violations. Under his leadership, Colombia's military was accused of killing civilians and presenting them as rebel combatants to inflate body counts. This became known as the 'false positives' scandal, implicated in at least 2,000 deaths, though some investigations suggest the number could be as high as 6,402.

Critics have also raised concerns over Uribe's alleged links to right-wing paramilitary groups, which he has denied.

The current trial stems from a 2012 libel complaint Uribe filed against opposition Senator Ivan Cepeda, who had probed Uribe's alleged ties to the Bloque Metro paramilitary group. But in 2018, the Supreme Court dismissed Uribe's case and instead turned its attention to possible misconduct by the former president.

According to prosecutors, Uribe attempted to manipulate witness testimony by sending his lawyer, Diego Cadena, to pressure former paramilitaries -- two of whom claim they were offered bribes. Cadena also faces criminal charges. The testimony was also relevant to a murder trial involving Uribe's brother, Santiago.

Following a 10-hour hearing, Judge Heredia said there was sufficient evidence that Uribe sought to influence witness accounts, Al Jazeera noted.

Uribe's sentencing has sparked backlash in the United States. On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended Uribe on social media, stating, 'Former Colombian President Uribe's only crime has been to tirelessly fight and defend his homeland.'

'The weaponization of Colombia's judicial branch by radical judges has now set a worrisome precedent,' Rubio added.

In response, US Congressman Jim McGovern criticized Rubio's remarks, accusing the Trump administration of undermining judicial accountability abroad.

'The Trump Admin is saying that foreign leaders shouldn't be subject to rule of law if they say nice things about Trump,' McGovern wrote. 'It is very wrong to support impunity for a strongman held accountable by courts in his own country. This statement is shameful, and you know it.'

Uribe's house arrest comes less than a year before Colombia's next presidential election, scheduled for May 2026, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)