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An appeals court on Tuesday overturned the conviction of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for bribery and witness tampering in a landmark case that rocked the South American nation and tarnished the conservative strongman’s legacy.
Uribe, 73, has denied any wrongdoing. He was sentenced to 12 years of house arrest in August after a nearly six-month trial in which prosecutors presented evidence that he had attempted to influence witnesses who accused the law-and-order leader of having ties to a paramilitary group in the 1990s.
Uribe, who ruled from 2002 to 2010, described his conviction as political persecution and claimed the judge was biased against him. In the appeal, his lawyers questioned the validity of the evidence and argued that the former president’s responsibility had not been “clearly” proven.
Prosecutors may appeal Tuesday’s decision in Colombia Supreme Court,
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