Iván Duque defends Álvaro Uribe: "We are sure that his honor and his innocence will prevail" | Trade | World | Latin America

President-elect of Colombia Iván Duque requested that the right to legal defense of the former president be respected "fully" Álvaro Uribe that has resigned Tuesday at his seat in the Senate after being summoned by the Supreme Court for a case of corruption and procedural fraud.

"We respect the Constitution and its institutions." The former president Uribe and all Colombians must have all the guarantees to fully exercise their right to defense, enjoying their presumption of innocence under due process " Duque in a brief statement to reporters with the elected vice president, Marta Lucía Ramírez

Uribe (2002-2010) announced his resignation to the Senate on Tuesday after being summoned to the Supreme Court for a case of corruption and procedural fraud.

The Supreme Court calls me to the investigation, they have not heard me before, I feel morally prevented from being a senator, I will send my resignation letter for that my defense does not interfere with Senate duties, "he wrote Uribe on his Twitter account. In this sense, Duque commented that he knows Uribe is witness "of his honor, his rectitude, his patriotism and his indisputable service to the country and to the rule of law ", if" We express our solidarity with the former president Uribe and his family at this time, and we are sure that their honor and innocence will prevail ", he declares.

The case for which was cited Uribe is linked to a process that is followed by the alleged manipulation of witnesses who also faces Senator Iván Cepeda, of the leftist party Polo Democrático Alternativo (PDA)

On February 17, the Supreme Court requested an investigation into Uribe for possible involvement in the handling of witnesses in the case against Cepeda.

Everything goes back to 2012, when Uribe denounced Cepeda for alleged use of false witnesses accusing him of looking for former paramilitaries in the prisons and to convince them to testify against him.

With these testimonies, Cepeda is related to Uribe with paramilitary groups in his native department of Antioquia (northwest)

Uribe who was re-elected senator on March with 875,554 votes, the highest vote in the history of Colombia. its seat on July 20th.

Source: EFE