Colombian ex-president Uribe released from house arrest

A judge on Saturday lifted a house arrest order against former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. He was under investigation for alleged witness tampering and fraud, and had been held under the order since August.

The conservative Uribe is considered the most influential politician in Colombia of this century, and is currently its most popular one and the political mentor of the current president, Ivan Duque.

The former president, who had been serving as senator until resigning from the post in August, responded with a terse tweet: "Thank God."

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Uribe was the first former Colombian president ever placed under arrest. A day before being placed in detention, he tested positive for the coronavirus.

US President Donald Trump hailed the decision in a message on Twitter, calling the polarising Uribe "a hero."

"Congratulations to former President @AlvaroUribeVel," Trump said, tagging Uribe's Twitter handle.

Uribe and several allies are being investigated over allegations of witness tampering carried out in an attempt to discredit accusations he had ties to right-wing paramilitaries.

Uribe, a mentor to current President Ivan Duque, has insisted he is innocent.

In 2012, Uribe accused leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda of orchestrating a plot to tie him to right-wing paramilitary groups.

But in 2018, the Supreme Court said Cepeda had collected information from former fighters as part of his work and had not paid or pressured former paramilitaries. Instead the court said it was Uribe and his allies who pressured witnesses.

Uribe served from 2002 to 2010 and was known for his tough approach to fighting leftist FARC guerrillas and later for opposing an historic 2016 peace accord with them that ended a half century of war.

The Supreme Court had placed him under house arrest in August in a case involving a leftist senator, Ivan Cepeda, who Uribe said hatched a plot to falsely link him to right wing paramilitary groups -- one of the players that fought in Colombia's long, complex war. Uribe was accused of manipulating a witness against Cepeda.

On Saturday a lower court judge accepted a defence motion for Uribe to be released from house arrest while the probe continues.

(with inputs from agencies)