Bolivian prosecutor’s office admits new genocide charge against Jeanine Áñez

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Bolivian Prosecutor’s Office admitted a new accusation against former interim president Jeanine Áñez for crimes of genocide, serious injuries, and injuries followed by death for the death of civilians in 2019 with gunshots.

The Prosecutor’s Office made that decision public this Monday (5) for the massacres of Sacaba in Cochabamba, and Senkata, in El Alto, where a score of people died in clashes with a joint police and military security forces.

The Prosecutor’s Office “confirms to the Supreme Court of Justice that it initiated the phase of accumulation of antecedents”. It is stated in the publication of the Court on Facebook, which is accompanied by the notification of “initiation of investigations”.

The document specifically implicates the former interim head of state in the alleged commission of genocide, serious injuries, and injuries followed by death in a complaint filed by the victims’ relatives.

The events in Sacaba took place on November 15, 2019, during a march in which protesters demanded respect for the victory of Evo Morales in the annulled elections of that year. Four days later, settlers made a blockade near the Senkata fuel plant in the Alteña area of the same name and clashed with the military forces trying to enable the passage.

At that time, the version of the interim government was that the shots were fired among the demonstrators themselves and that the security forces had not used lethal weapons. At the same time, some organizations, such as the Ombudsman’s Office, stated that excessive force was used.

The action of the Prosecutor’s Office could lead to the handover of the investigation so that the Parliament may decide on the trial of responsibilities against the former president, who has been detained for almost four months in prison in La Paz for another process in which she is accused of terrorism, sedition, and conspiracy.

These accusations are part of the so-called “coup d’état” case. Former ministers of the transitional government are also being prosecuted and former police and military chiefs.

In the Bolivian Parliament, there are also other accusations against Áñez for the authorization of a loan with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) without the approval of the Legislature, the approval of a decree against freedom of expression, and the extension of the concession of the Public Service of Commerce Registry.

This new judicial action against the former president comes a few days after the announcement by her defense counsel of its request to release her from detention, based on dozens of new pieces of evidence that, in the opinion of Áñez’s lawyers, clear her of any participation in an alleged “coup d’état”.