The Bolivian Ministry of Public Affairs has announced that it will seek a 15-year prison sentence for former interim president Jeanine Áñez, who has been charged with the alleged 2019 coup d’etat against former president Evo Morales, as part of her reopened trial on Monday.
The 54-year-old former right-wing president, who has been in precautionary detention since March 2021, denounces political persecution.
Áñez faces two lawsuits, including a “violation of duties” before reaching the presidency, and a lawsuit that was reinstated in the common court Monday for making unconstitutional decisions while a senator.
For this case, Attorney General Juan Lanchipa announced that he would seek “a 15-year prison sentence for Ms. Jeanine Áñez”.
In another criminal case, he is facing terrorism, sedition and conspiracy charges related to his short term in government.
The defense demands a single process and that it be sent to Parliament, not to common justice.
Áñez attended the hearing via videoconference from a women’s prison after her request to appear in person at the Anti-Corruption Court in La Paz was denied.
The transaction was suspended after six hours and will resume Tuesday.
The former president, on a Twitter account led by his daughter Carrolina, denounced that he was experiencing “hypothermia”, that his family and lawyers were “barred from coming in to check on his health”.
The lawsuit against the right-wing ex-president began on February 10, before being suspended several times. In late May, the defense appealed to the Multinational Constitutional Court (TCP), arguing that the charges were unconstitutional.
TCP rejected the request a few days later and gave the green light to continue the experiment.
Lanchipa detailed that “more than 70 pieces of evidence” and about 20 statements will be presented, noting that the Prosecutor’s Office “has already prepared the presentation of the closing arguments for the trial.”
Áñez’s defense said Monday it has filed a new judicial appeal to the TCP for unconstitutionality, asking for the hearing to be suspended, but the request was denied.
Morales’ party says he was impeached in a coup d’etat with participation from the European Union, Brazil and Ecuador, as well as the Catholic Church and local right-wing leaders. His opponents argue that there was a popular uprising against Morales, whom they accuse of cheating in the 2019 election, as he plans to take power for a fourth time by 2025.
Jeanine Áñez came to power in November 2019 amid strong social unrest following Morales’ resignation (2006-2019).
source: Noticias
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