Bolivian Prosecutors To Request Preventive Detention for Evo Morales
Evo Morales, Dec. 15, 2024. X/ @evoespueblo
December 17, 2024 Hour: 12:37 pm
‘There is a series of illegalities aimed at stigmatizing and discrediting the former president,” lawyer Cox said.
On Monday, Bolivia’s Attorney General Roger Mariaca announced that he will seek six months of preventive detention for former President Evo Morales as part of an investigation into human trafficking allegations against him.
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Mariaca confirmed that the Tarija Departmental Prosecutor’s Office had formally charged Morales and another individual with the crime of “aggravated human trafficking.”
“We are requesting the exceptional measure of preventive detention for six months in a public prison,” he stated, adding that a precautionary judge is now expected to set a date for the hearing where the request will be considered.
He also emphasized that enforcing an arrest warrant is the responsibility of the police, which must explain when they will execute the order against Morales or why it has not yet been carried out.
On Tuesday, Tarija Departmental Prosecutor Sandra Gutierrez confirmed that a formal accusation was presented against Morales and Ms. Idelsa Pozo (the mother of the alleged victim) for the crime of aggravated human trafficking.” She noted that they are awaiting a judge to set the date and time for the precautionary measures hearing.
Morales is accused of human trafficking and statutory rape involving a minor with whom he allegedly had a child. The minor was reportedly part of a youth political group created by Morales during his presidency (2006–2019). The investigation also claims that the alleged victim’s parents “profited” from her by offering her to the former president in exchange for “favors.”
Nelson Cox, a member of Morales’s legal defense team, accused the prosecutors of attempting to discredit the leftist leader to block his potential presidential candidacy. “There is a series of illegalities aimed at stigmatizing and discrediting the former president… There is no evidence, no victim, no proof of the crime,” he stated, adding that the accusations against Morales are part of a closed case that cannot be reopened because a person cannot be tried twice for the same cause.
On October 16, authorities issued an arrest warrant against Morales. However, the police have not been able to execute it, as they have not located his whereabouts.
When the arrest order was issued, Morales’s supporters organized roadblocks for 24 days, particularly in central regions of the country, to defend him. These actions prevented the police from entering Chapare, a political and union stronghold of the former president.
In addition to the case in Tarija, Morales faces seven other complaints involving alleged abuses of minors in Cochabamba. He is also under investigation in Argentina for alleged human trafficking and sexual abuse. The investigations come amid tensions between Morales and President Luis Arce over control of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party and the selection of its presidential candidate for the 2025 elections.
“I denounce to the world that I am the victim of a brutal lawfare executed by the Government of Luis Arce, which promised to hand me over as a war trophy to the United States,” Evo said on social media.
“They invent crimes against me. They do not respect the constitutional principles of presumption of innocence and due process. They condemn me and shoot me legally, politically, and mediatically. They have no evidence, only slogans and unbridled hatred,” he added.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
