The former temporary president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñezwas sentenced this Friday to 10 years in prison accused of having carried out a coup against his predecessor, the leftist Evo Morales in 2019, the court announced.
The First Sentencing Court of La Paz announced its ruling “of conviction” 10 years, to serve in a women’s prison in La Paz, three months after the trial began and 15 months after the former president was remanded in jail.
Mira: Áñez asks for “forgiveness” for mistakes made in her interim government in Bolivia
The Court, presided over by Judge Germán Ramos, announced in a hearing “the damning sentence” for the 54-year-old former president “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 his closing argument, Añez noted that the Court “excluded” evidence that ruled out an overthrow of Morales in 2019, who was in power for 14 years. “I never looked for powerhe claimed.
The former president previously announced that she would appeal a conviction: “we will not stay here, we will go to international justice”.
The former governor was tried for her acts as a senator, before she assumed the presidency of Bolivia, on November 12, 2019.
Áñez succeeded Morales, two days after he resigned, in the midst of a strong social upheaval. The opponents denounced that Morales had committed fraud 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 by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) established that in the first months of her government there were 35 deaths in demonstrations.
defense of Añez argued that the Plurinational Constitutional Court recognized the legality of the mandate of Áñez and even the Congress, controlled by the Morales party, approved extending his mandate “constitutional” when the covid-19 pandemic forced the postponement of elections in 2020.