Bolivia: Jeanine Áñez will go for dismissal for genocide | The Supreme Court of Justice indicted her in Parliament

Bolivia’s Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) referred to parliament on accusation of “genocide” and other crimes against de facto ex-president Jeanine ñez (2019-2020), for the murder of opposition protesters in 2019 after the resignation of Evo Morales.

“The referral to the Plurinational Legislature of the accusatory claim has been ordered (…) TSJ President Ricardo Torres.

Fourth count

The accusation was presented on August 20 by the Bolivian Attorney General’s office before the highest court for referral to the legislature. According to Torres, this is the fourth accusatory proposal sent to parliament against ñez, who has been in detention since March.

The above is due, among other reasons, the authorization of a loan from the International Monetary Fund without the approval of the Legislature and the approval of a decree against freedom of expression. Now the Plurinational Legislature must decide whether to initiate a liability lawsuit against the former president.

Approval of the judgment is only possible with the vote of two-thirds of the members of Congress present. during the vote and, although the movement towards socialism in power (MAS) of Evo Morales controls the parliament, does not have the necessary special majority.

Massacres

The accusation against ñez stems from the complaint of relatives of victims of the repression of November 15, 2019 in the city of Sacaba, near the central city of Cochabamba, and the November 19 at the Senkata gas plant in the town of El Alto, neighboring La Paz.

In a report presented on August 18, the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI), of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), killed a total of 22 people in the two incidents, which it described as “massacres”. “The police and the armed forces, separately or in joint operations, have used excessive and disproportionate force,” the report said.

Sedition

Also there are two other lawsuits pending against the former president, although by criminal and ordinary means: one for the alleged crimes of sedition, terrorism and conspiracy, and the other for alleged breach of the duties of a public official.

Conservative ñez was proclaimed interim president on November 12, 2019, two days after her predecessor, Morales, will resign under pressure from the Central Obrera Boliviana, military commanders, opposition parties and indigenous movements and was forced into exile in Mexico and then Argentina after winning an election denounced as fraudulent by the Organization of American States and the European Union.

After the electoral competition, 37 people died in clashes between supporters and opponents of Morales and for the repression by the security forces of the marches of the supporters of the deposed left-wing president.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) counted 22 deaths from repressions it qualified as “massacres”. Áñez left power in November after the election of President Luis Arce, the dolphin of Morales, and in March she was arrested.

Macri and Almagro

Along with several of her ministers and former military and police chiefs, she is accused of co-authoring a coup against Morales in 2019, with the support of the Catholic Church, the European Union, Bolivian politicians of the right and center, as well as the governments of the former Argentine president Mauricio Macri and former Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno.
Also the Secretary General of the OAS, the Uruguayan Luis Almagro, is questioned for his role in the examination of the results of these elections.

At the same time, the opposition denounces that the legal actions against Áñez concern a settling of scores. Besides, the IACHR has put its eye on the Bolivian justice stressing their “lack of independence” and “lack of due process guarantees”, in addition to “excessive use of preventive detention”.

Suicide attempt

Áñez, 54, attempted suicide on Saturday after learning of the genocide charges against him. According to an official statement, the former de facto president suffered “minor self-inflicted injuries and was treated in the infirmary of the prison where she is being held.