The former temporary president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez, was sentenced this Friday to 10 years in prison. She is accused of having carried out a coup against her predecessor, Evo Morales in 2019, the court announced.
The First Sentencing Court of La Paz He announced his “conviction sentence” verdict of 10 years, to be served in a women’s prison in La Paz, three months after the trial began and 15 months after the former president was preventively imprisoned.
The Court, presided over by Judge German Ramosannounced at a hearing “the conviction” for Jeanine Áñez “for the crimes of resolutions contrary to the Constitution and breach of duties […]sentencing her to 10 years.
The former president was sentenced for breach of duties and resolutions contrary to the Constitution and the laws.
In her final argument, Añez pointed out that the Court “excluded” evidence that ruled out an overthrow of Morales in 2019, who was in power for 14 years. “I never sought power,” he said.
The former president previously announced that she would appeal a conviction: “we will not stay here, we will go to international justice.” The former ruler was tried for her acts as a senator, before she assumed the presidency of Boliviaon November 12, 2019.
Áñez succeeded Morales, two days after he resigned, in the midst of a strong social upheaval. Opponents charged that Evo Morales he had cheated in the elections of October of that year, to access a fourth consecutive term until 2025.
The former president, already in power, suffocated the strong opposition of social movements and peasants related to Morales. An investigation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) established that in the first months of his government there were 35 deaths in demonstrations.
Añez’s defense argued that the Plurinational Constitutional Court recognized the legality of Áñez’s mandate and even Congress, controlled by Morales’ party, approved extending her “constitutional” mandate when the covid-19 pandemic forced the postponement of elections in 2020.
The long process that Áñez lives
Áñez’s defense maintains that at the end of 2019 there was a power vacuum before the resignation of the entire line of succession and that his arrival at the Presidency adhered to the procedures of the Constitution.
The process began in early April, after a couple of postponements due to the health crises that Áñez presented or some resources that her defense raised for observations on the legal procedures.
(With information from AFP and EFE agency)