A Colombian judge on Monday convicted conservative former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez on charges of abuse of process and bribery of a public official in a trial widely denounced as irregular by local and international politicians and his supporters.

The former president’s defense team and his party, the Democratic Center, stressed that they will appeal the ruling all the way to the Colombian Supreme Court if needed.

Uribe, 73, is one of the most prominent conservative figures in Colombia and a two-time president between 2002 and 2010. He was reelected in 2006 during the brief time Colombia’s constitution was amended to allow presidential reelections before the amendment was reversed in 2015. Uribe is also considered a kingmaker for his two immediate successors, Juan Manuel Santos (2010-

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