Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was sentenced by a judge on Friday to 12 years of house arrest for abuse of process and bribery of a public official, in a long-running case over connections to former right-wing paramilitaries.

Former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe has been sentenced to 12 years of house arrest for witness tampering and procedural fraud. The sentence, delivered in the first instance, also includes a fine and a multi-year ban on holding political office,

Mr. Uribe, a towering figure in Colombian politics, was accused of trying to bribe a former paramilitary to retract testimony damaging to him.