A 15-year-old boy has been sentenced to seven years in juvenile detention for shooting Colombian presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay at a rally in Bogotá in June.
The conservative senator, who was 39, underwent multiple surgeries after being hit by three bullets but died on 11 August.
The teenager was charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms. After years of growing peace, the shooting shocked Colombians, who still remember the political violence of the 1980s and 90s when several presidential candidates and influential Colombian figures were assassinated.
Five others have been arrested and charged regarding the attack, including suspected criminal Élder José Arteaga Hernández. Police believe a dissident group of the former left-wing Farc rebels was behind the assassination.
Uribe was shot in the head at a campaign rally on 7 June, with unverified video of the assassination widely circulated online. Local media reports suggest that after his arrest, the teenager cried out: I did it for money for my family.
The senator was a popular member of the right-wing Democratic Centre party and had been seeking his party's nomination for the 2026 presidential election. His father, Miguel Uribe Londoño, announced his own presidential campaign earlier this week to keep his son's legacy alive.
Uribe Londoño had served as a member of Bogotá's city council and was previously a senator for Colombia's Conservative Party.
During the late 80s and early 90s, several prominent figures, including Uribe's mother, journalist Diana Turbay, were killed. She was kidnapped by Los Extraditables in 1990 and was shot dead during a botched rescue attempt.
Uribe often cited his mother as the inspiration for his political career “to work for our country.”
