Colombia’s former President, Alvaro Uribe, threatened on Sunday to sue the judge who ordered a criminal investigation of the politician’s alleged ties to paramilitary organization AUC.
According to Uribe’s defense attorney, Jaime Granados, his client asked him to thoroughly study the ruling in which Medellin judge Ruben Dario Pinilla ordered national judicial bodies to investigate the polemical former president.
MORE: Medellin Court Orders Congress, Supreme Court To Charge Uribe For Paramilitary Ties
Granados told press that the judge might have broken the law and illegally damaged the good name of Uribe when stating that evidence suggested that the political support for the AUC, to whom tens of thousands of human rights violations are attributed, “became an established policy” under Uribe that was “sponsored, permitted and facilitated by the high command of the Armed Forces.”
MORE: Uribe Was ‘The Head Of Colombia’s Paramilitaries’: Former AUC Ringleader
The former president and his allies are under increasing legal pressure over a wide range of alleged crimes. One of the primary candidates of Uribe’s Democratic Center party was recently imprisoned for his alleged ties to the AUC, while two others are still under investigation.
Uribe, who held the presidency between 2002 and 2010, is also being investigated for the illegal wiretapping of political opponents, the Supreme Court, human rights organizations and journalists.
In a response on Twitter, the former president defended himself against the ongoing accusations regarding his alleged ties with paramilitaries and the number of officials he appointed and worked with who were later sentenced for being paramilitary infiltrators or allies.
¿Por qué soy paramilitar? 1. ¿Soy paramilitar por haber sido amigo de Pedro Juan Moreno? 2. ¿Soy paramilitar (cont) http://t.co/LNlnkijUsI
— Álvaro Uribe Vélez (@AlvaroUribeVel) September 9, 2013
The former President’s alleged paramilitary links are currently under investigation by the Prosecutor General’s Office, which is investigating a formal lawsuit brought against the former head of state by leftist opposition politician and Uribe-opponent Ivan Cepeda.
MORE: Uribe Formally Accused of Forming Paramilitary Group
Alleged crimes committed during a president’s term must be investigated by the House of Representatives’ Accusations Committee, which has been investigating Uribe’s alleged role in a conspiracy involving the illegal wiretapping of Supreme Court justices, journalists, political opponents and human rights organizations.
Uribe has categorically denied he had ties to the AUC and its blocs and has claimed he was the victim of “criminal revenge” and “political persecution.”
MORE: Uribe Says Charged Aides Victim Of ‘Criminal Revenge’
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