Santiago Uribe, the brother of ex-Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, has been arrested on murder allegations in the death squad case probe.

Santiago Uribe was arrested Monday in Medellin, Antioquia on charges of murder and conspiracy and for allegedly forming a death squad called the "12 Apostles" (Los Doce Apostoles). According to Colombia Reports, Uribe was arrested by officers from the Prosecutor General's Office and was detained there until the arrest was approved by a court judge.

According to the outlet, Senator Paloma Valencia of Uribe's Democratic Center party says that the arrest was politically-motivated.

"We received this news with great sorrow for what it means for the country that are being lost democratic freedoms and that this corrupt government, through a corrupt prosecutor, is dedicated to the persecution of honorable people with political coups, while seeking impunity for terrorists," Senator Valencia said.

Uribe has denied any involvement in the paramilitary group and the murders. The Guardian reports that the main witness against the former president's younger brother, ex-chief of police Juan Carlos Meneses, points to Uribe as one of the leaders of the death squad. The Twelve Apostles is allegedly responsible for numerous murders in Antioquia in the 1990s.

Meneses described The Twelve Apostles as "a group of people doing cleaning, or social cleansing, or disappeared people who identify themselves as guerrillas, as thieves, as kidnappers, extortionists or even if they only had a vice, or vices. The only thing you have to do is, when that group goes to do a job, you have to collaborate with them," TeleSur TV reports.

Meneses said that "collaboration" meant in the form of monthly cash payments. He also testified that Uribe had a base in a La Carolina ranch where he used radios to operate the death squad. He added that he saw 15 death squad members with AR-15 and AK-47 rifles at the ranch who were doing training, CBS News reports.

Ex-Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was also linked to the killings, especially in the El Aro massacre in 1997, the place where he was a governor during that time. An earlier report by The Guardian stated that the victims said that armed men killed at least 15 people, raped women and burned homes during two days of carnage. However, Ex-President Uribe said that he was only being "slandered" since elections were just around the corner at that time.

Former President Uribe accused his successor, Juan Manuel Santos, for his brother's plight in order to hinder the progress of the Democratic Center movement.

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