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 Alvaro Uribe, 73, has been sentenced to 12 years of house arrest for abuse of process and bribery of a public official, marking the first conviction of a former Colombian head of state.

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