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Bolivia: Former President Evo Morales denounces “partial justice”

Bolivia

Former President Evo Morales denounces “biased justice”

Targeted by an arrest warrant, former Bolivian president Evo Morales denounced Friday a “partial and submissive justice”.

AFP

Published today at 02:41 Updated 4 minutes ago

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Former Bolivian President Evo Morales, who seeks to return to power, denounced on Friday “partial and submissive justice” in the government of his former ally Luis Arce, after the issuance of an arrest warrant against him in the part of a case of “trafficking” of a minor.

“I denounce to the world which persecutes me and condemns me in record time, a “justice” that is partial and subject to the government of Arce […]», Wrote the former leader (2006-2019) on his X account.

“My accusers are not looking for justice, they want to proscribe me and eliminate me before the next presidential elections in Bolivia,” he lambasted.

First Bolivian head of state of indigenous origin

The judge of Tarija (south), Nelson Rocabado, ordered an arrest warrant against Evo Morales on Friday during a hearing to which the ex-president was summoned but where he did not appear, as had already happened was the case on Tuesday.

The hearing was intended to examine a request from the prosecution for placement in preventive detention for six months. Judge Rocabado also ordered the freezing of his assets and prohibited his exit from the country.

The first Bolivian head of state of indigenous origin, Evo Morales is accused of “trafficking” of a minor due to an alleged arrangement concluded with her parents.

A “legal war”

According to the prosecution, Evo Morales, 65, allegedly had a relationship in 2015 with a 15-year-old girl, from whom a daughter was born a year later, with the consent of the parents in exchange for benefits.

Evo Morales rejects these accusations and argues that an investigation into the same facts was dismissed in 2020. “They could not prove an offense and invented another,” he further asserted.

The former leader says he is the victim of a “legal war” orchestrated by President Luis Arce, rival for the nomination of the left-wing party in power for the August presidential election.

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A medical certificate to justify the absence of Evo Morales

Evo Morales wants to return to power despite a ruling by the Constitutional Court which confirmed in November the ban on a president serving more than two mandates.

Evo Morales’ lawyers submitted a medical certificate on Tuesday to justify his absence, reporting bronchopneumonia and possible bradycardia (an abnormally slow heart rate).

Prosecutor Sandra Gutiérrez, in charge of the case, told the press on Friday that the documents presented “do not constitute valid legal impediments” to justify his absence.

The arrest of 41 people on Tuesday

The former coca farmer is supported by numerous supporters, mainly indigenous farmers, who demonstrated at the start of the week in La Paz after a four-day march from Patacamaya, 100 kilometers south of the administrative capital.

They were protesting against the economic crisis, demanding the resignation of President Arce. Clashes with police led to the arrest of 41 people on Tuesday, the second day of these demonstrations, according to the mediator responsible for the defense of freedoms.

This is the second march by supporters of Evo Morales, a radical leftist, after a first in September in which the former leader participated.

“Brother Evo’s Safety”

But since then, already targeted by an arrest warrant, he remains entrenched in his stronghold in the Tropico de Cochabamba region, in the state of Chapare, in the center of the country, protected by his supporters.

“Brother Evo’s security” is ensured by more than “2,000 people, every day and 24 hours a day,” Vicente Choque, of the Single Trade Union Confederation of Peasant Workers of Bolivia, assured AFP on Wednesday, and the one of his relatives.

In December, the prosecutor presented charges against Evo Morales in this case for which he faces a sentence of 10 to 15 years in prison.

The “complexity” of the matter

She then explained that she had issued an arrest warrant against him in October, without revealing its existence due to the “complexity” of the case, so that he could be heard by the public prosecutor.

Sandra Gutiérrez recalled that two days before, her supporters had erected roadblocks – which lasted several weeks – to protest against the “judicial persecution”, according to them, of their leader.

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