“I emphatically reject the article published by The Washington Post,” with which “they are trying to revive false and loathsome accusations from long ago against me and my family,” said Santiago Uribe in a letter published Wednesday by the Colombian daily El Tiempo.

In that article, which was written “without journalistic balance or rigor,” the “lying testimony” of retired police Maj. Juan Carlos Meneses is reported “in suspicious coincidence with (Sunday’s) presidential elections” in Colombia, Santiago Uribe said.

Meneses told the Post that Santiago Uribe led a murderous paramilitary group during the 1990s. The former police chief in the northern town of Yarumal recently fled Colombia out of fear for his life.

Meneses, who admits to facilitating the activities of the 12 Apostles group, said the paramilitaries killed small-time criminals, sympathizers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and others regarded as subversives.

“Santiago’s role was to lead a group of cattlemen. He organized them to put together a group to protect themselves against guerrilla actions. So his role was to call them and say, ‘We’re going to start up a self-defense group,’” Meneses told the Post.

The erstwhile police chief said Santiago Uribe told him that his brother Alvaro, then a senator, knew about these activities.

When the authorities began to invesigate Meneses and another police officer for paramilitary crimes, they went to see Santiago Uribe, who told them: “‘Don’t you worry because Alvaro has very good friends in the Attorney General’s Office, he has very good friends in politics in Bogota, and we’re going to try to see that the case is shelved,’” the retired major said.

Meneses said that he began to collaborate with the 12 Apostles, so called because the leader was a priest, when he arrived in the region in 1994.

He said that for his work he received close to 1.5 million pesos (around $2,000) a month, “which at that time was a lot of money.”

His job was to ensure that police turned a blind eye to the actions of the 12 Apostles, Meneses said.

The Post said Meneses’ revelations could revive an investigation against Santiago Uribe that was shelved in the 1990s.

Alvaro Uribe, due to step down in August after two four-year terms, has always denied any association with the paramilitaries, who are blamed for more than 22,000 deaths.

Colombia’s vice president, Francisco Santos, said Meneses’ allegations are aimed at hurting ruling party candidate Juan Manuel Santos – Francisco’s cousin – in the presidential race.

Polls indicate that neither Juan Manuel Santos nor his main opponent, Green Party hopeful Antanas Mockus, will garner enough votes to win outright on Sunday, necessitating a runoff June 20 to settle the contest.