Tension mounts in Bolivia: the prosecution requests six months in prison for ex-president Jeanine Áñez

LA PAZ.- The Bolivian prosecution asked this Sunday six months in preventive prison for former right-wing president Jeanine Áñez, for an alleged coup against former president Evo Morales, while the United Nations and the European Union (EU) demand transparency in the process.

Áñez, 53, was arrested on Saturday in the city of Trinidad, capital of the Amazonian department of Beni (northeast), after her two ministers of Justice, Álvaro Coímbra, and Energy, Rodrigo Guzmán, all three denounced by sedition, terrorism and conspiracy.

Three prosecutors signed the indictment for the request “Provisional measures consisting of preventive detention […] during six months “ in the prisons of La Paz, indicates the document published this Sunday.

Áñez, lawyer, politician and former TV presenter, has been held at a police station since Saturday after being detained while hiding in a safe at a relative’s home. The bizarre and surprising arrest took place in Trinidad, 600 kilometers northeast of La Paz, where he lived.

In this police operation led by government minister Eduardo del Castillo, the two former ministers were arrested in the same town and airlifted to La Paz on Saturday morning.

Áñez’s name, who left office in November, appears in a complaint that former ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS) (MAS) MP Lidia Patty lodged in December against the wealthy region’s civic leader from Santa Cruz, the right Luis Fernando Camacho, elected governor of the department in recent local elections.

The official 17-page prosecutor’s complaint states that Áñez and his two ministers are to be detained on a preventive basis for six months, while the investigation continues and others involved in the case are searched. The document indicates that these arrests are framed in a alleged conspiracy to carry out “an alleged coup” since October 21, 2019, three days after presidential elections characterized as fraudulent in favor of former left-wing president Evo Morales, who after 14 years in power was seeking a fourth term.

The trial includes five former ministers of Áñez and chiefs of police and military and civilians, against whom arrest warrants are issued.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, He asked “The guarantees of due process are respected and there is full transparency in all procedures” against former members of the Bolivian government, according to a statement from his spokesperson.

The European Union called the events in Bolivia “worrying” and said it was following them closely. In a note, the office of the head of European diplomacy, Josep borrell, said that “complaints related to the events of 2019 must be handled through a transparent judicial process without political pressure, with full respect for the independence of powers.”

For its part, the Embassy of the United States asked in a statement that “all civil rights and guarantees of due process are respected.”

Meanwhile, the influential Bolivian Episcopal Conference demanded “immediate release of detainees”. And he added that as an institution, they cannot “remain passive, while persecuting the citizens who have served Bolivia, with its limits, in difficult moments in its history and in search of ways of pacification” .

Áñez’s arrest was rejected outright by the main opposition parties – right-wing and center conservatives – who deny that there was a coup d’état in November 2019. They claim that there was initially a popular reaction against the results of the presidential elections, because allegations of suspected fraud.

The protests led to a police riot and a demand from the armed forces for Morales to step down, forcing the president to resign and go into exile in Mexico, before settling in Argentina as a refugee. Áñez, then second vice-president of the Senate, assumed the presidency.

Justice Minister Iván Lima rejected opposition complaints that there is political management of the prosecutor’s office and stressed that the law was enforced.

He explained that Áñez, despite his status as a former leader, does not have a judgment on responsibilities or privilege, which should be approved by Parliament and made public in the Supreme Court of Justice, but an ordinary process for his actions as a senator, before having assumed the first magistracy.

“Right now we are facing the trial of a former senator, so there is no constitutional privilege trial,” he said.

Agencia AFP

THE NATION