Former Columbian president Álvaro Uribe sentenced to 12 years of house arrest

The 73-year-old has also been barred from public office and fined $578,000 (£435,000).

He is the first former president in the country's history to be convicted of a crime.

He was convicted of two charges on Monday - interfering with witnesses and “procedural fraud” - in a witness-tampering case that has run for around 13 years.

Two jailed ex-paramilitaries gave evidence saying Uribe's former lawyer Diego Cadena had offered them money to testify in Uribe's favour.

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Cadena, who is also facing charges, has denied the accusations and testified, along with several other ex-paramilitaries, on Uribe's behalf.

Uribe maintains his innocence and told a judge in Bogotá he would appeal against his conviction, adding the case was meant to "destroy a voice for the democratic opposition".

Uribe led Colombia from 2002 to 2010 and played a leading role in a relentless military campaign against drug cartels and the Farc guerrilla army.

He is still a popular figure in the country, despite being accused of working with right-wing paramilitaries to destroy leftist rebel groups - a claim he denies.

Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned Uribe's conviction, accusing Colombia's judiciary of being weaponised.

In a post to X, Rubio wrote: "Former Colombian President Uribe’s only crime has been to tirelessly fight and defend his homeland.

"The weaponisation of Colombia’s judicial branch by radical judges has now set a worrisome precedent."