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Once again, the case against former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez for alleged bribery of witnesses and procedural fraud again took an unexpected turn.
Almost a month ago, a judge released him and pointed out that he had not yet been charged because it was not possible to equate the investigation carried out by the Supreme Court of Justice (in the old system) with an accusation within the new accusatory criminal system. which is why the prosecution is now handling the case.
But when reviewing that decision, the Fourth Criminal Court of the Bogotá Circuit, Although he kept his freedom, he considered two days ago that the investigation made by the Court can be assimilated to an accusation, Therefore, he pointed out that this stage has already been completed in this process.
(In context: Judge keeps Uribe free and says he has already been charged with bribery).
That turn is key, because while with the first decision Uribe’s case had to continue under investigation, now it is already at a procedural moment prior to the trial against the former senator.
This decision has no resources, as it was defined in the second instance. However, what follows has several avenues.
In the first place, according to criminal law professor Camilo Burbano, as Uribe is already charged, the Prosecutor’s Office must refine the investigation in which You will have to define if the case is closed or if you present a statement of accusation and accuse it and take it to trial. In both situations you have to do it before a judge of knowledge.
(Also: the OAS appointed a person in charge to follow up on the Uribe case).
A third option, Burbano points out, would be to apply a principle of opportunity or negotiate with Uribe, which would be unlikely because the former president has always said that he never committed the aforementioned crimes.
An important consequence of Uribe already being charged, explained criminal lawyer Helena Hernández, is that now the Prosecutor’s Office has a term set by law to be able to make a decision.
According to criminal lawyer Andrés Felipe Peláez Reyes, the deadline for the Prosecutor’s Office to decide is 90 days as a general rule; However, if there is a crime contest (as in this case, in which there would be several acts of alleged bribery), it could be extended to 120 days.
(Read also: Ex-prosecutor Montealegre asks that copies be certified to President Duque).
If this time were not met, explains the criminal Hernández, the prosecutor in the case, Gabriel Jaimes, would lose the competence and the process would have to be handed over to another investigator, with whom the terms would begin to be counted again. In addition, “the prosecutor who allowed the term to expire could be punished in a disciplinary process,” he says.
If this deadline is not met, the prosecutor in the case would lose jurisdiction and the process would have to be handed over to another investigator
Although Uribe will remain free, according to Burbano, the Prosecutor’s Office can request at any time, if it considers it so, an assurance measure. If you don’t, the victims in this case could also request that arrest.
The lawyer Reinaldo Villalba, who represents Senator Iván Cepeda (victim in this process), told this newspaper that this week they will evaluate if they request the insurance measure before a judgeTherefore, in his opinion, “there are grounds to do so.”
In any case, the criminal lawyers Hernández and Peláez recall that preventive detention is the last option that should be resorted to, and there are other measures, which are not custodial, that could be valued.
(It may interest you: Due to events in Urabá, JEP will hear Rito Alejo del Río and Plazas Acevedo).
Another point of interest has to do with the evidence that the Supreme Court of Justice had at the time to resolve the legal situation against Uribe, and who sent him to the Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the president of the College of Criminal Lawyers, Francisco Bernate, this is a key issue, because, when it is decided that Uribe is already charged, “the Court’s evidence remains valid and the Prosecutor decides how it evaluates it.”
The Court’s evidence remains valid and the Prosecutor decides how it evaluates it
The criminal prosecutor Peláez assures that in Law 906 of 2004, which is the one that governs the case, what has been practiced so far cannot be considered evidence, but rather material evidence. Thus, he says, the Prosecutor’s Office “does not have the obligation to take into account everything that the Court had,” and “can choose” what is useful to develop a theory of the case, if it is going to accuse Uribe.
(We invite you to read: new charges are charged against the police in the case that ‘Ñeñepolítica’ uncovered).
For now, sources from the Attorney General’s Office indicated that abide by the decision and that they will continue to examine the process to define what will be the next step, based on what they find in the file.
JUSTICE DRAFTING
Twitter: @JusticiaET
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