Bolivia’s ex-interim president Jeanine Áñez goes on hunger strike in prison

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Añez was arrested last Saturday and is serving 4 months in preventive custody awaiting trial as part of the ‘coup case’, for events after the 2019 Bolivian general elections.

Bolivia’s ex-interim president Jeanine Áñez, imprisoned by the Bolivian government which is accusing her of the crimes of sedition, conspiracy and terrorism following the 2019 post-election crisis, has declared herself on hunger strike, as she “does not want to fight.”

Áñez would also be depressed, as disclosed by the president of the Human Rights Assembly (APDHB), Amparo Carvajal, after visiting the ex-president in the Obrajes women’s penitentiary, which she entered last Monday.

According to Carvajal, Añez “is on hunger strike. She does not want to fight. She has a very strong, deep depression. No one has been able to visit her, not even her relatives, only her attorney.”

Read: Human Rights Watch denounces irregularities in Jeanine Áñez’s arrest warrant in Bolivia

Despite the activist’s attempts to comfort her, Áñez repeated over and over again that “she wants to die, because why live?”, said Carvajal.

Carvajal visited the prison facility along with a Ombudsman’s Office delegation after authorities refused to authorize the ex-president’s hospitalization, after relatives reported that she suffers from hypertension and depression.

Añez was arrested last Saturday and is serving 4 months in preventive custody awaiting trial as part of the ‘coup case’, for events after the 2019 Bolivian general elections.

In addition, Áñez’s daughter, Carolina Ribera, remains in “vigil” outside the prison, waiting for authorization to visit the ex-president, joined by supporters who have also gathered to demand that she be transferred to a medical center.

Ribera has also reported that she will meet with representatives of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to expose her mother’s case. The opposition has strongly criticized the arrest of Añez and other members of her cabinet, describing it as a political arrest, while the government has reiterated that all of the ex-president’s rights are being respected.

Read: Bolivia arrests its former interim president. Is it a witch hunt?

UN Secretary General António Guterres spoke on Thursday with Bolivian President Luis Arce and stressed the importance of respecting human rights and guaranteeing fair trials following the arrests of ex-president Jeanine Áñez and high-ranking ex-officials of the previous government.

“In the conversation, the secretary general stressed the need to respect human rights and due process, which are fundamental to the consolidation of democracy,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the international body, in his daily press conference.

Guterres had already made similar comments last weekend, when he issued a statement stressing the importance of ensuring proper legal procedures and “transparency” to detainees.

As a result, the UN has joined the long list of countries and international organizations that have voiced their concern about the situation in Bolivia. On Thursday, Arce’s government urged the United States and Brazil “not to interfere” in its internal affairs, after these countries expressed concern over the imprisonment of Añez and five of her ministers.

Source: infobae