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Colombia's Supreme Court sentences former Uribe ministers to 6 years in prison for bribery

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    FILE - In this June 9, 2009 file photo, Colombia's Health Minister Diego Palacio gives a press conference in Bogota, Colombia. Palacio is one of two former cabinet members for then President Alvaro Uribe who is being sentenced to six years in jail for bribing lawmakers to support the conservative leader's 2006 re-election. The conviction was handed down Wednesday, April 15, 2015 by Colombia's Supreme Court. (AP Photo/William Fernando Martinez, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - In this July 12, 1998 file photo, Sabas Pretelt, head of a leading Colombian industry association and a member of the peace commission, answers reporters' questions in Mainz, Germany. Pretelt is one of two former cabinet members for then President Alvaro Uribe who is being sentenced to six years in jail for bribing lawmakers to support the conservative leader's 2006 re-election. The conviction was handed down Wednesday, April 15, 2015 by Colombia's Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Heribert Proepper, File) (The Associated Press)

BOGOTA, Colombia – Two Cabinet ministers for then President Alvaro Uribe are being sentenced to six years in jail for bribing lawmakers to support the conservative leader's 2006 re-election.

The conviction of former Interior Minister Sabas Pretelt and Social Protection Minister Diego Palacio was handed down Wednesday by Colombia's Supreme Court.

A former congresswoman in 2008 accused the Uribe aides of offering her favors and political appointments in exchange for supporting the lifting of a constitutional ban on presidential re-election.

A lower house committee is investigating Uribe in the same case.

The two join a half dozen other top Uribe aides who have either been convicted or under investigation for corruption and ethical breaches. All claim their innocence and say they are victims of political persecution by Uribe's successor, President Juan Manuel Santos.