Bolivian judge extends the detention of ex-president Áñez from four to six months

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The situation of the former interim president of Bolivia Jeanine Áñez and two of her imprisoned former ministers became more complicated when a judge determined this Saturday to extend from four to six months their preventive detention dictated a week ago.

Judge Willy Arias resolved to “confirm” the resolution that a few days ago determined the preventive detention of the former head of state and her former ministers “with the modification that the period of preventive detention is determined to six months” initially ordered.

The legal basis that was presented during a virtual hearing that lasted several hours is the “extension” of the risks of obstruction and flight that the representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Government and the Attorney General’s Office presented.

The verdict emanated as a result of an appeal raised by Añez’s defense to the provision of preventive detention on charges of sedition and terrorism known as the “coup d’état” case during the political crisis faced by Bolivia in 2019.

OUTCOME OF HEARING

“We are not surprised” by the decision to extend Añez’s preventive detention, assured Luis Guillén, one of the lawyers of the former interim president, during an appearance before the media.

The jurist admitted that these processes “have a long duration” and that in a certain way they become “tortuous” due to the whole process that must be followed in the framework of the investigation.

Guillén said that what remains is to “comply with all the stages” of the procedure, although he regretted “the simple accusation” that the Prosecutor’s Office has made against Áñez, since he considered that there is no “association on the facts” for which the former president, labeled as “de facto” by the Government, is accused.

TRANSFER TO ANOTHER PRISON

The day began with the tension caused by the sudden transfer of Áñez early this morning to another prison in La Paz under the argument that there he would have the necessary equipment to monitor his health.

For several days, Áñez’s lawyers and family members have been seeking authorization for his transfer to a clinic in La Paz because he suffers from hypertension and his blood pressure has increased, arguing that “his health is at risk” due to possible complications.

A court validated this request last Friday but then there was a change in the disposition so that specialists from the Institute of Forensic Investigations (Idif) were considered to make this assessment.

“They took me out telling me that I was going to the clinic”, Áñez told the media early this morning upon her arrival at her new destination, the Miraflores prison in La Paz.

During the day, the former president was visited by United Nations Human Rights representatives and by one of the owners of a prestigious clinic in La Paz, who offered medical support in the face of her refusal to go to a medical center.

CALL TO DEFEND DEMOCRACY

This Saturday also transcended the invitation made by the Comité Cívico pro Santa Cruz, one of the main opposition civil organizations, to several of the authorities recently elected in the subnational elections to attend a meeting scheduled for this coming Monday morning.

This meeting, entitled “National Emergency Meeting in Defense of Democracy and against Political Persecution”, is motivated by the latest arrests of former national authorities and several military chiefs due to the process.

Among those summoned are the elected mayor of El Alto and former president of the Senate, Eva Copa, the elected mayor of La Paz, Iván Arias, the elected mayor of Cochabamba, Manfred Reyes Villa, and some candidates that must participate in the second round of the Governorships such as Chuquisaca and Tarija.

The process has as plaintiff the former legislator Lidia Patty and as witnesses the former president Evo Morales, the former president of the Senate Adriana Salvatierra, the former minister Juan Ramón Quintana among other former government officials of the former president, according to the hearing.

Among the main defendants are the former civic leader and governor-elect of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, former ministers of the interim government as well as other former military and police chiefs who allegedly collaborated for Áñez to assume the presidency after Morales’ resignation.

Source: infobae