Former de facto President of Bolivia, Jeanine ĂĂąez, surrounded by police in prison. File photo.
On Monday, April 6, the Coup d’Ătat II trial against former de facto president of Bolivia, Jeanine ĂĂąez, resumed in court. However, after ĂĂąez suffered a health complication at the Miraflores prison, where she was following the trial via videoconference, the president of the First Anti-Corruption Sentencing Court of La Paz, GermĂĄn Ramos, decided to suspend the hearing for the day, and announced that hearings will restart on Tuesday.
The hearing on Monday lasted more than six hours, and many aspect of the trial were discussed, such as a complaint filed by ĂĂąez’s defense, challenging a previous resolution of unconstitutionality which had been rejected.
On June 4, the Constitutional Court rejected a request by ĂĂąez’s lawyers to postpone the restart of the trial, alluding to a lack of arguments by the prosecution.
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âThe Admission Commission of the Plurinational Constitutional Court, subject to article 13.1 of the Constitutional Code of Procedures, resolves to reject the request filed by Jeanine ĂĂąez,â read the decision.
The judge also rejected another request by the defense, who requested that ĂĂąez assume her defense in person.
The Attorney General of Bolivia has asked for a sentence of 15 years in prison for the former de facto president ĂĂąez, accused of organizing a coup against former president Evo Morales, in 2019. ĂĂąez has been held in Miraflores prison as a preventive measure since March 2021.
ĂĂąez faces two trials, one that resumed this Monday, in which she is accused of breach of duties and resolutions contrary to the Constitution duty of a senator. This is the Coup d’Ătat II case, which is about the unconstitutional manner in which ĂĂąez assumed the presidency of Bolivia after the coup that overthrew the Morales government.
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In the other case, called the Coup d’Ătat I case, she has been accused of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy. This case deals with the massacre of 35 people in Sakaba and Senkata, committed by Bolivian military and police forces that attacked peaceful protesters demonstrating against the coup and the illegal assumption of power by ĂĂąez and her associates.
Victimas y activistas por los derechos humanos en vigilia fuera del Tribunal. La sesiĂłn del juicio contra Jeanine AĂąez, convocada para las 14, aĂşn no se instala @temasteleSUR @teleSURtv pic.twitter.com/dHRWRL85EA
— Freddy Morales (@FreddyteleSUR) June 6, 2022
On Monday, families of victims of the coup as well as human rights activists staged a demonstration outside the court during the hearing, demanding justice.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana PerdigĂłn, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/GMS/SC/EF
