A Bogota court suspended the fraud and bribery trial against Colombia’s former President Alvaro Uribe after his lawyers refused to show up.
The court was supposed to continue hearing the prosecution’s first witness, Senator Ivan Cepeda, but was forced to suspend Tuesday’s proceedings.
Uribe, who was connected via a video link, told the judge that his lawyers didn’t show up because they sought her removal and the suspension of the criminal proceedings before a higher court.
According to this lawsuit, judge Sandra Liliana Heredia had “violated the fundamental rights to due process and access to the administration of justice of Alvaro Uribe,” reported newspaper El Espectador.
The judge said that “my sole interest in this case is to ensure the prompt and proper administration of justice” and she would consider punitive actions against the defense attorneys.
The prosecution and the lawyers of Uribe’s alleged victims claimed that the former president’s defense team was in contempt of court.
The prosecution regrets that once again when the judiciary makes a lawful decision that the parties may not like, it turns into a contempt of court.
Prosecution
Uribe was initially accused of bribing witnesses to file fraudulent criminal charges against Senator Ivan Cepeda by the Supreme Court in 2018.
This investigation was delegated to the Prosecutor General’s Office after the former president resigned from the senate, effectively renouncing his congressional privileges.
Cepeda and other alleged victims were able to block attempts to drop the investigation and suppress evidence, which ultimately led to the continuation of the trial before a Bogota court.
According to the judge, proceedings will continue on Thursday unless she receives an order from a higher judicial authority to suspend the case.
