By Daniel Ramos and Brendan O’Boyle
LA PAZ (Reuters) – A Bolivian court on Friday found former President Jeanine Áñez guilty of orchestrating a coup that led her to force a political crisis in 2019.
He sentenced her to 10 years in prison. A former army commander and a former police general were also convicted.
Áñez, 54, found guilty of making “unconstitutional decisions” and “breach of duty. “
Prosecutors said Áñez, then a right-wing senator, violated norms guaranteeing constitutional and democratic order after Bolivia’s 2019 presidential election.
Áñez’s defense said it will turn to the organs to seek justice, and several sectors of the opposition are planning marches to protest the decision.
Bolivia is divided by a coup that took a stand when then-President Evo Morales resigned in 2019, with Áñez ascending to the presidency amid a leadership vacuum that was left in his wake. Morales’ departure followed mass protests against a contested election in which he claimed to win a controversial fourth consecutive term.
Áñez maintains that he is innocent.
The contentious case has more exposed flaws in a deeply divided country while fueling concerns about Bolivia’s judicial process.
“We are involved in the prosecution of this case. And we call on the higher courts to look at how the process took place,” César Muñoz, senior Americas researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in an interview before the verdict.
Áñez was not allowed to attend the trial in person, but after the hearing and out of prison. She has been detained since her arrest in March 2021 on initial charges of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy.
Members and supporters of Morales’ Movement to Socialism (MAS) party, which returned to strength in 2020, say Áñez played a key role in what a coup against Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, who oversaw dramatic alleviation in poverty as president from 2005 to 2019, says.
As president, Áñez accused of settling political accounts when his administration prosecuted former MAS officials.
Áñez’s supporters say his trial is illegitimate and political. In his trial, Áñez said it was a product of circumstances and that his rise to the more sensible post helped calm a tense country and laid the groundwork for the October 2020 elections.
“I didn’t lift a finger to be president, but I did what I had to do. I assumed the presidency by obligation, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution,” Áñez said in his last sentence before the judge.
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