La Paz (EFE) clarifications on this ruling, having detected contradictions in it.
The lawyer Luis Guillén, one of Áñez’s defenders, explained to EFE that the 351-page document “breaks down the elements that have been appealed” and “ratifies the resolution issued in the first instance”, that is, “the 10 years against the former president for the crime of resolutions contrary to the Constitution.”
In a preliminary analysis of the defense of the ex-governor, it was detected that the sentence “enters into a contradiction” because “it seems that it rules out the crime of breach of duties” that was included in the initial ruling, said the jurist.
Appeal for clarification…
“When it resolves the appeal of the Public Ministry, it says (that) it has not been possible to prove the breach of duties, therefore, what would have been applied is the maximum penalty for resolutions contrary to the Constitution. This, in a preliminary analysis, is a situation that is going to have to be clarified by this court,” he indicated.
For this reason, Áñez’s defenders plan to first present an “appeal for clarification” so that the court specifies whether the new sentence effectively eliminates a crime or not, so that, “once with this clarification, the appeal can be properly filed.” marriage,” he added.
The Justice determined in June 2022 to give 10 years in prison to the former interim president for the case “coup d’état II” in which the main accusers are the Prosecutor’s Office, the State Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Government (Interior) that they considered that Áñez improperly assumed the Presidency during the political crisis of 2019.
power vacuum
Áñez’s defense argued that she acceded to the Presidency in her capacity as second vice president of the Senate due to the “power vacuum” after the resignation of the then president, Evo Morales, his vice president and the heads of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.
Áñez has been preventively detained in a jail in La Paz since March 2021 for another case known as “coup d’état I”, accused of crimes of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy, also for the 2019 crisis.
The sentence motivated organizations such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Oacnudh) in Bolivia to state at the time that in the process against Áñez there was an “excessive use” of preventive detention, among other questions.
Likewise, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Diego García-Sayán, pointed out that Áñez is subject to a trial of responsibility as a former president, regardless of the way in which she came to power.
The former president’s defense appealed the first ruling, arguing that there was “political interference”, while her accusers also appealed for the sentence to be increased to 15 years in prison.