10/26/2020 4:26 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 10/26/2020 4:26 PM
The Bolivian justice
annulled the arrest warrant
against former President Evo Morales for alleged crimes of terrorism, a week after the election of his dolphin Luis Arce as the new president, Judge Jorge Quino reported.
The arrest warrant against the ex-president exiled in Argentina was lifted
because "his rights were violated,
basically the right to defense because the former president was not duly summoned," said Quino, president of the La Paz Departmental Court of Justice , to the Unitel channel.
The Bolivian Attorney General's Office had indicted Morales on July 6 for
alleged crimes of terrorism and its financing,
and again requested his preventive detention.
Another arrest warrant for sedition
and terrorism had been issued in December against Morales (2006-2019), after he resigned from the presidency on November 10 amidst a social upheaval and accusations of electoral fraud.
The former indigenous leader and his party, the Movement for Socialism (MAS), had rejected all the charges and claimed they were politically motivated.
The prosecution had also opened another case against Morales
for alleged fraud in the October 2019 elections
, in which he won re-election to a fourth term but was later annulled after complaints of irregularities.
There was no progress in this case in justice.
In addition, the prosecution had tried earlier this year to get Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant against Morales,
but the agency rejected it
on the grounds that it was political, not criminal, matters.
More complaints
Morales was the target of
numerous accusations by the
transitional right-wing
government
of Jeanine Áñez throughout the campaign for the October 18 elections, which was won by Arce, his former finance minister and architect of the "economic miracle" of the 14 years of his mandate.
On September 4, the Bolivian government contacted the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to denounce Morales
for alleged crimes against humanity
due to the road blockades in August.
However, this action appeared to be merely symbolic and in search of electoral benefits, since a State can ask the ICC to examine whether it is appropriate to intervene in a certain case, but the Court does so only when the national criminal system has failed.
The Bolivian prosecutor's office had said it would investigate the blockades, but never reported progress.
Source: AFP
PB
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