Uribe Case Witness Monsalve Ordered to Colombia’s High-Security Cómbita Prison
JUSTICE · COLOMBIA
Key Facts
- —The country Colombia, where President Abelardo de la Espriella took office on 7 August 2026 promising to retake control of prisons used to run extortion.
- —What happened On 30 September 2026 he ordered Juan Guillermo Monsalve moved from Bogotá’s La Picota to the high-security Cómbita prison in Boyacá, Semana and El Tiempo reported.
- —Who is involved Monsalve, 48, is serving 44 years for kidnapping for ransom, El Colombiano reported on 30 September. He was the best-known witness against ex-president Álvaro Uribe.
- —What it means for you The order signals a harder line on prison privileges. It also tests how far a president can go with a witness under court protection.
- —Still open Monsalve was taken to a Bogotá medical centre with a suspected heart problem after the order, and the transfer was put on hold, Infobae reported.
The Cómbita prison order arrived in a video Colombia’s president posted on X on Wednesday 30 September. It told the prison service to move Juan Guillermo Monsalve out of Bogotá at once.
“In the Patria Milagro, no prisoner will have privileges,” Abelardo de la Espriella wrote, using his government’s slogan. He called Monsalve “an out-and-out bandit” who had “systematically violated the prison regime”.
A presidential order, filmed and posted
Semana reported that the order went to Inpec, Colombia’s national prison and penitentiary institute. The footage showed Monsalve shackled at hands and feet in a beige and orange uniform, El Colombiano reported.
“I will not allow Colombia’s prisons to become centres of criminal operations,” the president added. “Whoever is in prison will serve their sentence, without privileges.”
The order fits a wider campaign. In its first 50 days, the government says, it ran 4,080 search operations and cut 10,716 illegal power connections inside prisons.
It also moved 682 inmates flagged as security risks, El Heraldo and Caracol Radio reported on 29 and 30 September. These are government figures and have not been independently audited.
Not every move has held. A day earlier the prison service reversed a disputed transfer, sending ex-senator Antonio Guerra back to La Picota.
Who Juan Guillermo Monsalve is
Monsalve has been held in La Picota since 2008, Infobae reported. He is serving 44 years for kidnapping for ransom, according to El Colombiano and Blu Radio.
His father was the foreman at Guacharacas, an estate owned by Uribe and his brother Santiago. Monsalve testified that a paramilitary unit, the Bloque Metro, was founded there.
Uribe’s defence argued nothing proves Monsalve was ever a paramilitary. His own father recently denied any tie between the Uribe family and armed groups, Blu Radio reported.
Why the Uribe case made him famous
Uribe, president from 2002 to 2010, was tried for bribing witnesses and procedural fraud. Monsalve said Uribe’s lawyer, Diego Cadena, pressed him in 2018 to change his testimony.
Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia convicted Uribe in 2025 and sentenced him to 12 years. In October 2025 the Bogotá Superior Tribunal acquitted him, finding no proof he instructed Cadena, Asuntos Legales reported.
Monsalve also faced reports of special treatment in La Picota. Infobae listed alleged computers, internet-connected phones, liquor, parties and a spy watch used to record Cadena.
He lived in a staff house inside the prison compound, Infobae reported. The president has not said publicly which specific rules Monsalve broke.
A court ruling and a hospital bed
Monsalve’s lawyer, Miguel Ángel del Río, said the order ignores the Supreme Court. He cited an April 2021 ruling by its investigating chamber that refused Inpec permission to move Monsalve.
That ruling followed two reported attacks on him and told La Picota to reinforce his protection, Infobae reported. Del Río said judicial and prison authorities must now settle its reach.
During the transfer Monsalve reported chest pain and was taken to a Bogotá medical centre. His lawyer called his condition delicate, Blu Radio and El Colombiano reported.
What Is Not Yet Known
It is unclear whether the move to Cómbita prison resumes once doctors assess Monsalve, or whether a court blocks it. No response from Inpec or the Supreme Court to the 2021 ruling argument had been reported.
Reports also differ on his sentence, with El Espectador citing 40 years and other outlets 44. The government has not detailed the alleged breaches behind the order.
Sources: El Tiempo, El Espectador, Semana, El Colombiano, Infobae and Blu Radio, 30 September 2026; El Heraldo, 30 September, and Caracol Radio, 29 September 2026; Asuntos Legales, October 2025.
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