Bolivia: Añez Likely To Face Multiple Trials

The Attorney General's Office of Bolivia on Friday asked the Supreme Court to open three new trials against the de facto ex-President Jeanine Añez.

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The first case is related to the illegal settlement of a US$327 million IMF loan, which materialized without the due approval of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly.

In the second trial, Añez would be judged for violating freedom of expression during the COVID-19 quarantine. Meanwhile, the third one is based on her concession for managing the Public Registry of Commerce to Fundaempresa.

The Attorney General's Office rejected the fourth indictment filed by the Ministry of Justice, arguing there was insufficient evidence.

The Supreme Court, after considering the request of the Attorney General's Office, must remit the cases to the Legislative Assembly, which would approve the trials with the assent of two-thirds of its members.

Añez is already charged with the crimes of terrorism, sedition, and conspiracy in the "Coup d'état" case in which she has been called up again to testify before the Prosecutor's Office after invoking her right to silence in her first statement.

Currently, the de facto ex-president is in the Miraflores prison in La Paz, where she was transferred after being arrested in the early morning of March 13, 2021. 

Besides Añez, several officials of her coup-born government are facing charges in court for murder or corruption, liker her former Deputy Minister of Government Arturo Murillo.