The group of lawyers defending Jeanine Áñez asked to review the ten-year prison sentence against the former interim president of Bolivia, which was confirmed by a court this weekend. While the process is taking place, Áñez has been in preventive detention since March 2021 accused, among other crimes, of sedition and terrorism.
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The defense of the former interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez, confirmed this Sunday the sentence that was applied to her this week by a local court. Áñez was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the way in which she agreed to the Presidency of the South American country, according to the EFE agency.
One of the members of Áñez’s defense team, lawyer Luis Guillén, stated that they will request a review of the legal conclusion, assuring that they had detected contradictions. In addition, Guillén assures that the document, of more than 300 pages, breaks down “elements that have already been appealed.”
The defense attorney referred specifically to some points. Among these, it stands out that the current ruling, according to Guillén, “rules out the crime of breach of duties”, included in a previous ruling.
The legal team assured that among the steps to follow is the presentation of an “appeal for clarification.” This procedure has the objective of specifying whether the new sentence released or eliminates a specific crime (non-compliance), which will allow the defense to insert a new appeal.
What is Áñez accused of?
The former president is involved in the case known as ‘Coup d’état II’. One that was formulated by the Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of the Interior and the State Attorney General’s Office. These government entities affirm that Áñez improperly assumed the Presidency after the political crisis that took place in the country after the resignation of Evo Morales.
Her lawyers defend the hypothesis that Áñez became the first magistracy in her capacity as second vice president of the Senate after the resignation of the country’s leadership, including the parliamentary leadership.
Human rights organizations such as the Bolivian Office of the UN High Commissioner for these matters (Oacnudh), as well as the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, have criticized the judicial process that has been carried out against the former head of state.
On one occasion, the Oacnudh declared that there was an “excessive use” of the preventive detention measure against the accused, while the rapporteur for the Independence of Judges declared that the former interim president is responsible for a trial of responsibility for having occupied the position senior.
Áñez is still behind bars as a protection measure for the ‘Coup d’état I’ case. In this he is accused of sedition, conspiracy and terrorism in the framework of the 2019 crisis.
Others prosecuted for the ‘Coup d’état’ cases
Local media such as the newspaper ‘La Razón’, detail that the Bolivian Justice ratified the sentence of several soldiers related to the ‘Coup d’état’ case. The sentence of eight years and nine months in prison was ratified for two commanders, both being prosecuted for absenteeism. The defendants were Yuri Calderón, from the Police, and Williams Kaliman, from the Armed Forces.
The newspaper also echoed the sanction against Sergio Carlos Orellana Centellas, former Commander-in-Chief of the State Armed Forces, and Jorge Elmer Fernández Toranzo, former inspector of the Armed Forces. The two have also been accused of rebellion and will face a sentence of six years in prison.
With EFE and local media
