Colombian ex-president Alvaro Uribe, who is being held under house arrest accused of fraud and witness tampering, announced on Tuesday he is resigning as a senator.

In a letter to Congress, the influential former leader (2002-10) said his decision was because it was impossible “to return to the Senate”, a post he has held since 2014, due to the procedure launched against him.

The 68-year-old, who heads the Democratic Center party of current President Ivan Duque, previously resigned in July 2018 after the Supreme Court summonsed him

He seemingly did so in an attempt to escape investigation by the Supreme Court — which is the only body with judicial jurisdiction over legislators.

He had accused the court of being biased against him.

However, just a week later he retracted that resignation and the investigation against him continued.

The court ordered him held under house arrest two weeks ago, saying “from there (he) can mount his defense with all the guarantees of due process.”