Judiciary approves new criminal trial in another case against former interim president of Bolivia

The Bolivian judiciary on Thursday rejected the appeal filed by the former interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez (2019-2020), clearing the way for a new criminal trial before a regular court.

Judge Heber Torrejón rejected the incompetence complaint filed by Áñez, so the irregular appointment of authority in the state-owned Empresa Boliviana de Alimentos (EBA) will be heard in a responsibility trial and not in the ordinary courts.

“The plea of lack of jurisdiction is declared unfounded based on the subject matter filed by Jeanine Áñez. This determination of jurisdiction is not in support of the state and may be challenged,” Judge Torrejón’s decision states.

In light of this decision, Áñez’s defense attorney announced a legal contempt proceeding against the judge, considering that an illegal sentence had been forced when a trial on responsibilities would have been appropriate.

The defense used all legal means to prove that Áñez should be convicted in a responsibility trial since this appointment was made when she was head of state.

The prosecutor’s office charged Áñez with five felonies for the “irregular” appointment of Karina Leiva Áñez as executive director of the state EBA in May 2020. In light of this, she requested that she be remanded in custody for six months.

She is accused of unlawful appointments, decisions contrary to the Constitution and the law, dereliction of duty, anticipation or extension of the term of office, and conspiracy since Leiva did not meet the requirements to hold office.

To date, three cases against Áñez have gone through due process, one of which has already been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

One is labeled coup d’état I for allegedly committing crimes of sedition, terrorism, and conspiracy. She is in pretrial detention in that case.

In a second case, Coup II, the former interim president, was sentenced on June 10 to 10 years in prison for dereliction of duty and making decisions contrary to the Constitution and the law.

She has been imprisoned since March 2021 in the Miraflores women’s prison in the Bolivian city of La Paz (West), where the judiciary has decided that she should serve a ten-year sentence.

The third concerns the irregular appointment of her relative Karina Fabiola Leiva Áñez de Ruiz as executive director of the Bolivian Food Company in 2020.

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