The writ of protection filed on the morning of Monday, August 4, by the defense of former President Álvaro Uribe - revealed by EL TIEMPO - which seeks to immediately suspend his house arrest following the conviction against him, has just been assigned by distribution to a magistrate who had already declared himself unable to hear his case.
The arguments of the impediment
Riaño alleged that his partner had been appointed to a position by Eduardo Montealegre, today the alleged victim in the process in which Uribe was sentenced to 12 years for bribery in criminal proceedings and procedural fraud.
"My permanent partner Luz Adriana Gutiérrez Mejía was appointed in 2013 as provisional Local Prosecutor in the municipality of Zipaquirá, Cundinamarca, a time when Dr. Montealegre Lynnet was serving as Attorney General of the Nation and, in that capacity, made her appointment", Riaño wrote at the time and the impediment proceeded, being accepted by his colleagues in the room.
The claim at that time was because, according to Uribe's defense, Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia had not guaranteed due process by not properly handling a recusal that had been filed against her for supposedly not having been impartial during the course of the process against Álvaro Uribe.
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Montealegre had already denounced Judge Riaño for the crime of prevarication by action.
"Since the tutela lawsuit was filed, it was said that I was one of the victims of the proceedings. So the question I ask myself is why, if according to the judge, there was a cause for impediment, he didn't declare it immediately and waited to issue a precautionary measure that favored the former president," Montealegre explained at the time.
While Judge Leonel Rogeles initially ruled against the precautionary measure the defense sought to free the former president, reports indicate that he will make the final decisions when Riaño returns from leave.
