Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez was sentenced Friday to 12 years of house arrest for bribery in criminal proceedings and procedural fraud.

I t took Judge Sandra Heredia over ten hours on July 28th to read her judgment in the case against Álvaro Uribe, Colombia’s president from 2002 to 2010. Her verdict, when it came, was that he was guilty of arranging the bribing of witnesses and of perverting justice.

Judge Sandra Heredia wants the sentence be applied immediately in what has become the most significant court case in recent Colombian history. But his defense said they will appeal