The former interim president of Bolivia Jeanine Áñez pleaded not guilty this Friday in the trial for an alleged coup in 2019 against his predecessor, Evo Morales, shortly after the ruling is issued.
(Read: Bolivia: key trial begins against former president Áñez)
“I did what I had to do, I assumed the presidency by commitment… I would do it again if I had the opportunity,” the 54-year-old former right-wing president assured the judges of the court, who visited her in the La Paz prison where she is. in prison since March 2021.
(You are interested in: Bolivia formally accuses Jeanine Áñez for proclaiming herself president)
“Everyone knows that I am innocent,” added the former president, who governed between 2019 and 2020, while dozens of protesters outside the prison demanded his sentence.
Áñez has been tried together with former military chiefs since February for breach of duties and resolutions contrary to the Constitution.
He is accused of having unconstitutionally assumed the presidency in November 2019 after the resignation of Morales (2006-2019) amid massive protests for alleged electoral fraud denounced by the Organization of American States (OAS). She, on the other hand, defines herself as a “political prisoner”.
After several interruptions, the trial resumed on Monday and is drawing to a close: with the final arguments concluded, the First Sentencing Court of La Paz will deliberate and pass judgment. The Prosecutor’s Office requested that Áñez be sentenced to 15 years in prison.
One of his lawyers, Luis Guillén, denounced this week that “they are trying to force” a guilty verdict. Áñez, his defense and the opposition denounce pressure from the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS) for a quick conviction.
“It is inconsiderate to subject myself to tiring hours, because my health does not allow it,” Áñez said Thursday. The former president has lost balance during some hearings, she went on a hunger strike for two weeks at the beginning of her trial and cut her arm in August 2021.
This Friday, a group of 23 former presidents of Ibero-American countries asked the UN and the European Union “to repudiate the intention to sentence her arbitrarily.”
other process
Another case against the former president, for sedition, terrorism and conspiracy, is in the investigation stage, so there are still no formal charges. According to Guillén, “two processes are being followed for the same act”, something that violates a general principle of law.
In addition, he stressed that “it cannot be an ordinary court that decides what is constitutional,” but an appeal filed with the Plurinational Constitutional Court for that reason was unsuccessful.
The lawyer emphasized that it is not appropriate to try a former president in the ordinary way, but that a trial of responsibilities should be held in Congress. The complainants – the leftist government, the Prosecutor’s Office and Congress – argue that Áñez’s actions prior to his government are being judged, for which an ordinary trial corresponds.
The former president was also singled out for “genocide” — which carries prison sentences of between 10 and 20 years — following the complaint of relatives of victims of the November 2019 repression.
A group of experts hired by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in agreement with Bolivia recorded 22 deaths in these incidents, which it described as “massacres” and found “serious violations of human rights.”
But unlike the other accusations, this case will be dealt with by Congress, which will decide whether or not to hold a trial of responsibilities against her. The IACHR report also questions the independence of the Bolivian judicial system.
power vacuum
In October 2019, Morales ran for a fourth term despite losing a referendum to qualify for a new re-election. In the midst of a strong social upheaval and accusations of fraud at the polls, he finally lost the support of military and police commanders and left the country.
Those who were to succeed him, all from Morales’ MAS, resigned one after another: the vice president, the head of the upper house and the president of the chamber of deputies.
In the midst of a power vacuum Áñez, a lawyer and former television presenter, finally took over, the next in line of succession in the Senate.
The complainants argue that the then second vice president of the Senate took power in a session without the legal quorum and without dealing with the resignations of Morales and his acolytes.
But the Parliament, which was controlled by the MAS, recognized the legality of his management, whose main task was to organize new elections. These were held in October 2020 after two postponements due to the pandemic, and had Luis Arce, Morales’ dolphin, as the winner.
In addition, the Constitutional Court endorsed the procedure citing a constitutional ruling from 2001. Áñez handed over power in November 2020 to Arce, winner of the elections.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
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