Iván Cepeda says Uribe is trying to delay his election campaign to benefit his party.

Colombian Senator Iván Cepeda, recognized as a victim in the trial against former President Álvaro Uribe, on Monday described the former president's decision to waive the statute of limitations in his case, in which he was sentenced in the first instance to 12 years of house arrest, as an "electoral ploy."

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"Although he tries to present this as an act of respect for justice, in reality what we perceive from this new stratagem by Álvaro Uribe is an attempt to remain free while he campaigns," Cepeda said in a video released on X.

The former president, founder of the right-wing opposition party Centro Democrático, has been engaged in intense political activity for several weeks with the party's potential candidates for the 2026 legislative and presidential elections.

Uribe, 73, became the first former Colombian president to be criminally convicted on August 1, receiving a sentence of 12 years of house arrest. However, the Bogotá Superior Court granted him freedom while it appeals the sentence.

The former president (2002-2010) announced this Monday that he was waiving the statute of limitations on the case, which expires on October 16, arguing that he was doing so for consistency and to "set a true example."

(Read more: Iván Cepeda will run for president as a pre-candidate for the Historic Pact)

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Cepeda, on the other hand, maintained that the gesture seeks to delay the case: "Now that there is a first-instance decision against him, Uribe is trying to have the second-instance decision as far removed as possible from his campaigning activities within the Democratic Center."

The process began in 2012, when Uribe accused Cepeda of allegedly tampering with witnesses linking him to paramilitary groups. The Supreme Court closed that investigation and opened a case against the former president for alleged witness tampering, which culminated in the historic conviction.

Cepeda, who formalized his presidential candidacy three days ago, will compete in the internal consultation of the ruling Historic Pact in October with figures such as Senators María José Pizarro and Gloria Flórez, former ministers Carolina Corcho and Susana Muhamad , former Senator Gustavo Bolívar, and former Mayor Daniel Quintero, among others.

In parallel, the Democratic Center, a party founded by Uribe, will determine its presidential candidate among several candidates through an international poll on a date yet to be determined between December and January.

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EFE