In a judicial first, a Colombian court has convicted former President Álvaro Uribe on charges of witness tampering and bribery, making him the first former president in the country to be sentenced during a trial.

Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia stated on Monday that Uribe conspired with a lawyer to convince three prisoners from former militia groups to change their testimonies against him, as part of an investigation initiated by leftist Congressman Iván Cepeda regarding his alleged ties to militias in the 1990s.

The defense team announced its intention to appeal the ruling in a case that has sparked widespread political controversy in Colombia.