Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe will testify in preliminary hearings involving former Chief of Staff Bernardo Moreno this Thursday.
Uribe is testifying upon his own request, asking for a chance to clear up issues of alleged pressuring of officials during his administration.
Moreno stands accused of pressuring public administration official Guido Echeverry into appointing people allied with a congressman who had been key in amending the constitution to allow Uribe’s second term.
Echeverry refused the appointments, at which point Moreno allegedly pressured Echeverry’s superior into dismissing Echeverry.
Moreno has been in prison since last July, due to charges stemming from another case involving his alleged role in the illegal wiretapping by Colombian intelligence agency DAS of supreme court judges, political opponents, human rights activists and journalists.
Other former Uribe administration officials involved in political scandals include former Agriculture Minister Andres Felipe Arias and ex Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo.
Uribe has been a vocal defender of these men and claiming they are victims of “political persecution“.
