Former Bolivian President Evo Morales, involved in a scandal for allegedly abusing a minor during his term, was summoned to testify on Thursday by the prosecutor’s office in an investigation for “rape, trafficking and human smuggling,” that office announced this Monday.
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“The summons of the three people accused in this case has been arranged: Mr. Evo Morales, the parents of the victim, for Thursday, October 10, at the prosecutor’s office so that they can present their informative statement” in the department of Tarija, he reported. the head of the public ministry, Juan Lanchipa.
64 years old and the biggest opponent of the government of his former minister Luis Arce, the indigenous leader stated in X that He is a victim of “lawfare” (judicial persecution) and attributed it to “the betrayal” of the current president, with whom he disputes the presidential nomination of the ruling party for the 2025 elections..
“They initiated four judicial processes against us simultaneously, all with forced actions to seek our arrest,” Morales said, without mentioning the summons from the prosecutor’s office.
The scandal dates back to 2015, when Morales was president. That year, according to the prosecutor’s investigation, Morales became involved with a 15-year-old minor with whom he had a daughter in 2016.
Morales, who headed the executive branch between 2006 and 2019, described the complaint as “another lie” and added that In 2020 he had already been investigated for the same events and that “it has been shown that there was nothing”.
However, the new file was opened by the prosecutor of the Tarija department Sandra Gutiérrez. The official ordered Morales’ arrest on September 26, but the order was annulled on Wednesday by a judge who accepted a judicial appeal in favor of the former head of state.
Prosecutor Lanchipa removed Gutiérrez from her duties for “negligent conduct,” but the justice system restored her to office and she will be the one to take Morales’ statement, as announced by the head of the public ministry.
In addition to the crime of statutory rape (carnal access with minors between 14 and 18 years of age), Morales is now being investigated for human trafficking and smuggling.
According to the court file, the minor’s parents enrolled her in Morales’ “youth guard” “with the sole purpose of political escalation and obtaining benefits (…) in exchange for their minor daughter.”
In Bolivia the penalties for several crimes are not cumulative. If found guilty in an eventual trial, Evo Morales would face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, which is what the regulations set for the most serious crime in this case, which is human trafficking.
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