The reactions left by the release order for Álvaro Uribe Vélez

Supporters and detractors of the former president of Colombia, former senator Álvaro Uribe Vélez, reacted to his release order, which was issued by a Judge 30 of Control of Guarantees of Bogotá this Saturday, October 10.

The main argument to determine this decision was that an investigation cannot be equated to an indictment and that, therefore, the former president, deprived of his liberty on his estate ‘El Ubérrimo’, would be immediately released due to a case of procedural fraud and manipulation of witnesses

In addition, he pointed out the difference that a different measure of deprivation of liberty means in the two systems and they are not comparable. In turn, it highlights that there are non-custodial measures that can be applied.

The decision has elicited reactions from supporters and detractors of the former president. Opinions vary from criticism or praise for the change of court, the role of the delegate prosecutor Gabriel Ramón Jaimes, among other versions.

The first to speak was Álvaro Uribe himself, who from his Twitter account briefly celebrated the decision with a “Thank God”, a trill that has already reached thousands of interactions.

One of the first to give his opinion was the journalist Daniel Samper Ospina, who has been against the political career of the former president and has often been the focus of his satirical journalistic pieces.

Paloma Valencia, senator for the Democratic Center and one of the main defenders of the innocence of the former president, briefly trilled the hashtag “#UribeLibre”, which identified those who believed in Uribe’s freedom and which prevailed as a trend even before dictating the decision.

The senator for Colombia Humana, Gustavo Bolívar, expressed that he respects the judge’s decision and that, however, this cannot be confused with an acquittal of the charges for which the former president is being investigated.

The former Minister of Defense in the administration of Juan Manuel Santos and president of ProBogotá, Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno, expressed himself happy at the decision of the judge 30.

In response to the trill of the former president, the representative to the House for the List of Decency and daughter of the late political leader Carlos Pizarro, María José Pizarro, points out her doubts about the resignation of the former president to his seat as senator when he was found deprived of freedom.

Iván Cepeda, who would have been questioned in the first place for manipulating witnesses against Uribe in this same case, spoke via Twitter expressing his respect for justice but announcing that he will appeal the decision of Judge 30 of Control of Guarantees.

“We do not share that decision, of course, and we are going to appeal it. Above all, it seems very serious to us that the prosecutor Gabriel Jaimes has developed a free political act in this action. His partiality is evident “stated the senator.