Bogota court dismisses Uribe defense’s bias claim, orders trial resumption

A Bogota court dismissed a bias claim against the judge who has been trying Colombia’s former President Alvaro Uribe, allowing the trial to continue after a week-long suspension.

According to Judge Laura Melo, the challenge presented by Uribe’s defense attorney, Jaime Granados, was unfounded.

Consequently, Melo asked her colleague Sandra Heredia to resume of criminal proceedings against the former president, who allegedly bribed witnesses to deny his alleged ties to paramilitary groups.

The Supreme Court forced Heredia to suspend witness hearings last week, claiming that a dismissal of Uribe’s bias charges by the Bogota Superior Tribunal had violated the former president’s rights to a fair trial.

The top court subsequently ordered the Bogota court system to either confirm or dismiss the bias claims leveled by Uribe’s defense, which has now been resolved.

Heredia, who has accused Granados of trying to delay proceedings, is expected to resume hearing the prosecution’s witnesses within days.

Uribe was initially charged with fraud and bribery in February 2018, but has been able to delay the case through a flurry of legal challenges.