Former Bolivian health minister Marcelo Navajas was jailed on Sunday on suspicion of corruption when purchasing respirators for coronavirus patients, the prosecution said. Marcelo Navajas, arrested on May 20 and sacked the same day, was placed in pre-trial detention with three other suspects, while two others were under house arrest, prosecutor Ruddy Terrazas told reporters. His imprisonment was decided by a judge in La Paz after a hearing of more than twelve hours on Sunday.
“I want to reiterate that I am completely innocent. Tell you that I am injured but not defeated, and that I will continue to fight to demonstrate that an injustice has been done to me, " said the former minister in a video released after his imprisonment.
Read also: Bolivia: investigation into corruption in the purchase of respirators
The scandal broke out a week ago, when doctors complained that a batch of respirators bought from a Spanish company and financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) were not suitable for the resuscitation services of Bolivian hospitals . The investigation later established that these respirators had been overcharged: they had been acquired for $ 27,683 per unit, while other companies offered equivalent models for less than $ 12,000.
According to the prosecutor Terrazas, the former minister "authorized this operation" and its implication was decided on the basis of letters exchanged between his ministry and an agency responsible for making purchases for Bolivian hospitals.
Covid-19 killed 240 people in Bolivia, for a total of 5,915 confirmed cases.
