Bolivia: former commanders accused along with former president Áñez admit guilt

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Two of the former Bolivian commanders accused, along with former president Jeanine Áñez, have admitted their guilt on Thursday, February 10, asking the Public Prosecutor’s Office to be sentenced in an abbreviated process for the so-called ‘Coup d’Etat II’ case in Bolivia.

“They have submitted their request for abbreviated proceedings in writing to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. It is important news for the country. There are two people, [Gonzalo] Jarjury and [Jorge] Terceros, who have asked the Prosecutor’s Office to issue a sentence through the abbreviated procedure. It acknowledges responsibility and guilt,” said the Bolivian Minister of Justice, Iván Lima.

Gonzalo Jarjury was a former chief of the Navy, and Jorge Terceros a former chief of the Air Force in 2019.

This revelation comes hours after the Anti-Corruption Court of La Paz, which is handling the case against former president Jeanine Áñez, suspended on Thursday the order to open an oral trial for the so-called ‘Coup d’Etat II’ case, which investigates her role in the events before her proclamation as president of Bolivia.

An abbreviated procedure implies that the accused accept their responsibility and receive an expedited sentence.

Without revealing the content of their letters, the Court has indicated that the request of both defendants will be considered when the trial begins.

Áñez, who has been in pretrial detention for almost a year, began a hunger strike on Wednesday, February 9, and called for a demonstration in front of the Anti-Corruption Court in La Paz when the trial was scheduled to begin.

The “Coup d’Etat” case has been divided into two separate cases: on the one hand, there are the events before her proclamation, and, on the other, she is accused of terrorism, conspiracy, and sedition.

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