The reinstatement of the trial against the former interim president of Bolivia Jeanine Áñez was suspended this Monday after the exmandataria suffered a decompensation of her health in prison, from where the hearing that took more than four hours between arguments of both parties continued.
The hearing of the ordinary trial against Áñez for the case called “coup d’état II” for the events recorded during the 2019 crisis was to start at 2:00 p.m. local time (6:00 p.m. GMT) and began late due to the absence of one of the lawyers of former military and police chiefs involved in this process.
The judicial appointment took place between an extensive crossing of arguments between the parties about the continuity of the hearing after the resources imposed by Áñez’s defense and the refusal of the President of the Court, Germán Ramos, to transfer the former president to the room where it was held. audience.
From the beginning, the lawyers of the former interim head of state expressed their disagreement with the installation of the legal actsince they considered that the Constitutional Court should first resolve a complaint appeal that they presented on Monday morning.
In this sense, Judge Ramos ordered an official letter addressed to the Constitutional Court so that it would shortly give a response on a “recourse of complaint” with which Áñez’s defense seeks to challenge a rejection resolution that that body issued a few days ago on a incident of unconstitutionality.
In addition, Añez, who attended virtually from the Miraflores prison in La Paz where she has been detained for more than a year, He asked the judge to transfer him to the hearing, a request that was denied.
“For my right to defense, I request to be present at my own trial, I think it is my right, so I ask your Court to instruct me to be transferred so that I can be present in the same Court,” Áñez said at the beginning of the hearing. .
Likewise, Norka Cuéllar, one of Áñez’s lawyers, asked the judge to explain her refusal to transfer her client, since she argued that there was no reason for such a measure since the former interim president “has all four vaccines” against covid-19 and in most of the hearings are already allowed the attendance of the defendants.
After 7:00 p.m. local time (11:00 p.m. GMT), the judge in the case realized that Áñez was not on the screen and after contacting the prison’s legal advisor, he was informed that the former interim president had retired to the medical area due to pain in the back.
Before the suspension, the Public Ministry made a detailed presentation of the evidence that they consider to show that Áñez unconstitutionally assumed power in 2019, after the resignation of Evo Morales from the Presidency and, together with him, the officials who were in line of succession.
The hearing will be reinstated on Tuesday afternoon to continue with the arguments, according to the lawyers.
Bolivian Attorney General Juan Lanchipa said Monday that the Prosecutor’s Office “will request the Sentencing Court to sentence Mrs. Jeanine Áñez to 15 years.”
For the “coup d’état II” case, Áñez is accused of illegally assuming the Presidency by allegedly violating the Senate regulations.
manifestations
While the hearing was taking place, more than a hundred people, including activists and government officials, who identified themselves with the victims of the so-called massacres of Sacaba in Cochabamba and Senkata in El Alto, stood outside the court.
“Jail for Áñez” and “this is justice, this is not revenge” were some of the songs that were sung at the same time that endorsed the idea that in 2019 there was a “coup d’état” and that the then opposition senator ” self-proclaimed” president of the country.
For their part, the opposition parties Comunidad Ciudadana (CC), of former president Carlos Mesa, and the alliance We Believe, of the governor of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, reiterated their rejection of the trial against Áñez and insisted that in 2019 there was no coup. of State as affirmed by the Government and the ruling party. EFE
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