Bolivia institutes criminal proceedings against prevaricators

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The president of the Bolivian Magistrates Council, Marvin Molina, confirmed today the establishment of 76 processes against bad administrators of justice after the intervention of the criminal execution courts.

“We have established approximately 76 criminal proceedings and more than 800 cases of disciplinary irresponsibility,” said the magistrate.

In an interview with the Bolivia TV channel, Molina affirmed that the investigation of more than 1,000 files throughout the country was carried out in compliance with an instruction of the Commission of Review of Cases of Rape and Femicide created by indications of the president, Luis Arce.

He described that a first intervention of the courts resulted in the initiation of criminal proceedings against three judges in La Paz, one in Chuquisaca and another in Santa Cruz.

He reiterated the word “intervention” when explaining that it is the first one carried out in 23 years of the Council of the Magistracy and insisted it was a necessary work.

The high-ranking judicial official clarified that this investigation was not intended to persecute or harass the administrators of justice but to make the work of the sector professionals more transparent.

The Vice Minister of Communication, Gabriela Alcón, on her part, informed that the recapture of ten inmates released by corrupt authorities and nine judges prosecuted is the result of the Commission for the Review of Cases of Rape and Femicide after its work of one month.

“What do we have? Ten people who have been illegally benefited by bad judges; two in cases of femicide, two in cases of rape, and six people sentenced for murder, before the typification of femicide,” said the head of this area attached to the portfolio of the Presidency.

Alcón said that this committee, created by presidential instructions, observed in a little more than 30 days 35 files and obtained results in favor of justice and women victims.

She also made proposals regarding some regulations, such as modifying the Penal Code.

She emphasized that through the coordination between the different state bodies, the aim is to change the corrupt structure that facilitates the release of criminals from the justice system.

She described that the modification of regulations and agreements, the prioritization of cases, the beginning of the work with the Observatory of Justice and Gender, and other institutions to advance this problem’s solution were established.

To identify irregularities and punish those responsible, the Commission for the Review of Cases of Rape and Femicide comprises 16 State agencies and has seven women among its leaders, it was informed.