Colombia Closes Uribe Witness Bribery Probe

COLOMBIA · URIBE CASE

Colombia’s prosecutors have shelved a case accusing a former president of paying witnesses, finding no evidence the payments happened.

Colombia’s prosecution service, the Fiscalía General de la Nación, has archived its witness-bribery case against ex-president Álvaro Uribe. Archiving means closing a file without charges, and it is not an acquittal.

El País Cali, a Colombian newspaper, reported on 14 November that the decision was issued on Friday 13 November 2026. La FM, a Colombian radio network, said the 47-page document is dated 12 November 2026 in Bogotá.

The alleged bribes were meant to make former paramilitaries, members of illegal armed groups, change testimony against Iván Cepeda, a senator who was named as the alleged victim. The Fiscalía found no evidence that any such payments took place, according to its resolution as described by both outlets.

What the Prosecutor Decided

The Fiscalía ordered the archive for two alleged offences, bribery in criminal proceedings and procedural fraud, La FM and El País Cali reported. Semana, a Colombian news magazine, reported the decision on 13 November.

Sandra Helena Portilla Constain signed it, as a delegate prosecutor before the Supreme Court of Justice, Colombia’s highest ordinary court, El Heraldo, a Colombian newspaper, reported. La FM reported the ground as “inexistencia del hecho”, meaning the alleged facts did not exist, and Semana cited Article 79 of Law 906 of 2004, the Colombian code of criminal procedure.

El País Cali quoted the resolution as saying it is not possible to establish that the reported acts happened (our translation). It added that, as a result, the bribery offence cannot be made out.

The inquiry began in February 2018, El Heraldo reported, when the Supreme Court’s criminal chamber ordered copies of a file sent so that Uribe could be investigated for alleged witness manipulation.

What Investigators Checked

The prosecutor traced finances and assets with the tax agency DIAN, the credit bureau Cifin, the central bank (Banco de la República) and the property registry authority. El Heraldo reported the checks.

Property deals near Cimitarra, in the Santander region, were linked to witness Gabriel Muñoz Ramírez, El Heraldo reported. The prosecutor found them to be legitimate private deals between individuals, according to the same report.

A mortgage release that had raised suspicion was tied to a commercial agreement signed between 2009 and 2011, La FM reported. The alleged offers for testimony, by contrast, were said to date from 2015.

Witness Pablo Hernán Sierra gave no documents or evidence to back his statements, according to El Heraldo and La FM. La FM added that his account came from rumours circulating where he was held.

A procedural-fraud strand involved three people, known as alias Castañeda, alias Simón and Óscar Antonio Monsalve Correa, El Heraldo reported. The prosecutor found a legal bar to ruling again, since those facts were already weighed at an oral trial in Bogotá’s 44th Criminal Circuit Court.

How This Differs From the Main Trial

The witness bribery alleged in this archived file differs from the case in which Uribe was tried. One part of the file, on procedural fraud, concerns facts already judged at that trial, according to El Heraldo.

In 2025 a first-instance judge, Sandra Heredia, convicted Uribe and sentenced him to 12 years of home detention. On 21 October 2025 the Tribunal Superior de Bogotá, the capital’s appeals court, acquitted him and revoked the sentence.

The Fiscalía and the victims then filed cassation appeals in January 2026, meaning a final Supreme Court review on points of law. By February 2026 the case had gone to magistrate Carlos Roberto Solórzano Garavito.

We found no final cassation ruling and no hearing date. The archive in the witness-bribery probe therefore does not decide the main case, and it is not a trial verdict.

Why It Matters

The decision means one criminal inquiry around Uribe no longer has an open investigation, unless new material evidence appears. That is the legal effect described by La FM, El País Cali and Semana in their reports of 13 and 14 November 2026.

In a party statement, Uribe’s Centro Democrático said Cepeda’s accusations “fall apart once again for lack of evidence”, La FM reported. We found no economic or market figure tied to the decision, so we give none.

What to Watch

We found no dated hearing, deadline or announcement tied to this decision, so there is no scheduled date to give. La FM reported that the resolution is to be notified to Uribe, the Ministerio Público (the state body that represents the public interest in criminal cases) and the alleged victim.

The inquiry can resume if new material evidence appears and the criminal action is still alive, La FM reported. More reporting is on our Colombia news page.

What Is Not Known

Cepeda’s reaction to the decision has not been found in published reports. It is also not known whether anyone will challenge the decision.

We have not seen the full text of the 47-page resolution, only the published accounts of it. Everything here about its contents therefore comes from those accounts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Colombia’s prosecutors decide about Álvaro Uribe?

They archived an investigation into whether he bribed witnesses to change testimony against Iván Cepeda. The Fiscalía found no evidence the alleged payments happened, according to La FM and El País Cali.

Is the archive an acquittal for Uribe?

No. An archive closes a file without charges and can be reopened if new material evidence appears, as La FM reported.

Does this end Uribe’s main trial?

No. The bribery alleged in the archived file differs from the main case, and we found no final cassation ruling or hearing date at the Supreme Court.

Sources: Fiscalía General de la Nación (47-page resolution, as described by the outlets below); El País Cali, 14 November 2026; Semana, 13 November 2026; La FM, November 2026; El Heraldo, 14 November 2026.