BOGOTA (Reuters) -A judge on Monday found former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe guilty of abuse of process and bribery of a public official in a years-long witness tampering case, making the right-wing politician the country's first ex-president ever convicted at trial.

Mr. Uribe, a towering figure in Colombian politics, was accused of trying to bribe a former paramilitary to retract testimony damaging to him.

The influential and controversial Uribe was found guilty in a witness tampering case and is the country’s first former president to be convicted in a criminal trial.