Bolivian court annuls arrest warrant for former president Evo Morales | World

The arrest warrant against the former president, exiled in Argentina, has been suspended because “his rights have been disrespected, basically the right to defense, since the former president has not been duly summoned,” said Quino, president of the Departmental Court of Justice of La Paz, to the station Unitel.

On July 6, the Bolivian Attorney General’s Office accused Morales of alleged crimes of terrorism and its financing and requested his preventive detention again.

In December another prison order for insurrection and terrorism had been issued against the former president (2006-2019), after he resigned from the presidency on November 10 amidst social upheaval and allegations of electoral fraud.

The former indigenous president and his party, the Movement for Socialism (MAS), rejected all the accusations and said they were politically motivated.

The Prosecutor’s Office had also filed another lawsuit against Morales for alleged fraud in the October 2019 elections, in which he won re-election for a fourth term, but they were later annulled after allegations of irregularities. There has been no progress in this case in court.

In addition, the Attorney General’s Office had tried earlier this year to get Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant against Morales, but the organization declined to consider that these were political and not criminal matters.

Morales was the target of several accusations by the transitional government of Jeanine Áñez during the campaign for the October 18 elections, won by Arce, his former finance minister and creator of the “economic miracle” of his 14-year mandate.

On September 4, the Bolivian government contacted the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to denounce Morales for alleged crimes against humanity caused by the roadblocks in August.

However, this action seemed to be purely symbolic and in search of electoral gains, since a State can request the CPI to examine whether it is convenient to intervene in a given case, but the Court only does it in case of failure of the national criminal system.

The Bolivian prosecutor’s office had said it would investigate the blockades, but never reported on progress.

With a year in exile, Morales will decide in the next few days whether to return to the country for the inauguration of Luis Arce, scheduled for November 8.

“I think this week, until the end of the week, we will decide when to return and how to return,” Morales told Kawsachun Coca station in Chapare (central Bolivia).

“Many are suggesting that my return is on the 11 [de novembro]. I left on the 11th (from Bolivia to Mexico) and would return on that date, ”explained Morales, who analyzes the possibilities.

The former leftist president sought refuge first in Mexico and then in Argentina after resigning from the Bolivian presidency.

“I am very grateful to the president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, because he offered to take me personally to Bolivia,” he concluded.

On Friday, the former president traveled from Buenos Aires, where he lives as an exile, to Venezuela, with a return scheduled for Sunday.

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