Colombian President Álvaro Uribe decided to withdraw the government’s
controversial judicial perform proposals after a meeting with coalition
partners Tuesday.
The reform, one of the items most fiercely promoted the past few months, had been equally fiercely critizised by the opposition, the judicial branch and human rights groups who said the reform was to protect politicians who are investigated for their alleged ties to paramilitary groups.
The Colombian government said the reform was to make the judicial branch able to fairly trial those politicians accused of criminal acts and wanted to address “partiality” and “nepotism” within the judicial branch.
Uribe announced to instead come with proposals to “decongest” the justice system.
The government and the high courts have clashed frequently over the past few months, because of the reform, the parapolitics investigations and the trial against former congresswoman Yidis Medina, who was convicted for having bribed by (former) members of the Uribe administration.
