"Santiago Uribe, the brother of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, has been sentenced to 28 years and three months in prison for aggravated homicide and conspiracy to commit a crime while leading a paramilitary group. In Tuesday's verdict, a three-judge panel in the northwestern province of Antioquia ruled that, in the early 1990s, Uribe formed and led an illegal armed group."
"Under Uribe's leadership, the group allegedly carried out a plan to systematically murder and exterminate people considered undesirable. Uribe has denied having any associations with paramilitary groups. His defence team plans to appeal. The ruling reverses a lower court's acquittal last year. The case will now pass to Colombia's Supreme Court for a final verdict. The conviction is the latest twist in a longstanding criminal investigation into the Uribe family and its alleged paramilitary ties."
"Tuesday's conviction relates to activities that took place on and around the Uribe family's La Carolina cattle ranch, located in Antioquia. In its 307-page ruling, the court detailed how the ranch was used as a base for The 12 Apostles, a far-right paramilitary group formed by ranchers in the early 1990s to combat leftist rebels, notably the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)."
Santiago Uribe received a 28-year, three-month prison sentence after a three-judge panel in Antioquia found him guilty of aggravated homicide and conspiracy for leading an illegal armed group in the early 1990s. The court concluded he formed and led The 12 Apostles, a far-right paramilitary group operating from the La Carolina cattle ranch, which carried out social cleansing, targeting sex workers, drug users, people with mental illnesses and suspected leftist sympathisers. Uribe denied associations with paramilitary groups and his defence intends to appeal. The case reverses a prior acquittal and will proceed to Colombia's Supreme Court for a final decision.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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