Tomas Uribe, son of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, accused Supreme Court Magistrate Yesid Ramirez of obstructing justice by requesting that the prosecutor general open an investigation into his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal.
The president’s son published a press release in which he announced that his father had reported Ramirez to the House of Representatives Commission for Investigation and Accusation, following the magistrate’s petition for an investigation into the allegations.
“The same judge that claims that my father is a murderer is the one that is investigating me, without having the jurisdiction to do so,” the press release reads.
Tomas Uribe said that he would cooperate with the case prosecutor so that “the facts be investigated in order to clear my name.”
This accusation by the Uribe family is the latest in a series of clashes with the Supreme Court, which on Wednesday released a statement rejecting President Uribe’s criticisms of Ramirez.
President Uribe lashed out at the judicial body, accusing it of “destroying justice” and “replacing it with hatred,” after Ramirez requested that Tomas Uribe be investigated.
The Colombian Prosecutor General’s Office announced Tuesday that it will open a formal investigation into the allegations against Uribe’s son.
Tomas Uribe was allegedly involved in the naming of Luz Marina Ocampo as a notary in Tunja, Boyaca, a town north-east of Bogota, as part of a campaign to bribe congressmen to support his father’s 2006 re-election.
According to the former superintendent of notaries, Manuel Cuello Baute, more than 30 notaries were assigned on government orders, and Tomas Uribe and Casa de Nariño officials were involved in the assignment.
Tomas Uribe testified before the Supreme Court on July 30, 2009 regarding the allegations.
President Uribe has often clashed with the judiciary during his presidency. This “train crash” between Colombia’s executive and judicial branches led the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) to examine the court’s dealings, before reporting that it was satisfied with the rulings handed down by the South American judicial body.
