Judge suspends trial against Áñez after admitting procedural failures

 After the identification of procedural errors such as the non-compliance with deadlines, the absence of signatures of the titular judges (due to vacation) in the issuance of documents on the process, the claim because the three judges of the room were not visible and the problems in the connectivity In the virtual hearing, the First Anti-Corruption Sentencing Court of La Paz determined yesterday, through a resolution, to annul the order to open the trial against former president Jeanine Áñez and eight former high-ranking officers of the Armed Forces and the Police in the case. called coup d'état II.

The request for the trial to take place in person was also recurrent among the lawyers of the accused, during the virtual hearing that took place yesterday morning.

And while the virtual debate was taking place, at the doors of the anti-corruption court, groups related to the Movement Towards Socialism and the defenders of former president Jeanine Áñez were about to face blows. Police intervention prevented further violence.

On January 18 of this year, an opening order was issued for the trial of the former president and former military and police officials for the crimes of resolutions contrary to the Constitution and the laws, and breach of duties. The lawyers for the defendants observed that the trial must take place within 20 to 45 days of the order to open the trial; however, 17 working days passed, failing to comply with article 343 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

“The First Anti-Corruption Sentencing Court of the capital, without entering into further considerations of a legal order, unanimously decides to annul the order to open the trial dated January 18, 2022,” declared the president of the court Germán Ramos , who did not set a new trial date. The other two judges on the court are Marco Antonio Vargas Yupanqui and Liz Avilez Condori.

Disorder

The hearing for the start of the oral trial was scheduled for 9:00, however, with a delay, a pre-trial hearing was given way, which was characterized by disorder, interference and constant noise that prevented the parties from being heard with clarity. Present at the hearing were judges, lawyers for the accused, and representatives of the accusing party, such as the Public Ministry, the Ministry of Government, the Senate, and others.

The Minister of Justice, Iván Lima, pointed out that the annulment of the oral trial was due to procedural sanitation and indicated that the process is expected to continue in March.

In this regard, Jeanine Áñez's lawyer, Alain de Canedo, observed "gross" irregularities in the process, including that the order to open the trial was issued by a single judge.

Defenders of the former president and related to the MAS fight at the court doors

While the first virtual hearing of the trial against Jeanine Áñez and former military chiefs was taking place, on the street, at the doors of the Departmental Court of Justice of La Paz, there were threats of confrontation between defenders of the former president who consider her to be a "political prisoner" and related to the ruling party that point to her as a "coup leader" due to the 2019 crisis.

Two groups of people arrived at Colón Street in the city of La Paz, near the Anti-Corruption Court, some with signs showing their support and demanding justice for Áñez, and others asking for jail for the former interim president.

Áñez's daughter, Carolina Ribera, arrived at the point accompanied by the president of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights of Bolivia, Amparo Carvajal, wearing a mask with the text "justice for Jeanine" and a T-shirt with the message "it was succession constitutional".

With her arrival, tension arose between both sides that were getting closer and closer and the policemen got in the middle of the groups, but that was not enough, since the group that asked for "jail" for Áñez began to launch eggs.

Then senators and deputies from the opposition group of We Believe arrived to express their support for Áñez's family in the midst of the tension.

As the pro-government supporters continued to throw things, Áñez's supporters began to withdraw amid heavy police guard.

Lawyers for defendants request face-to-face session

The Minister of Justice, Iván Lima, expressed yesterday after the suspension of the trial against former president Jeanine Áñez that the Government "respects due process" and "respects the decision of the Bolivian Justice" that is acting "independently".

Regarding Áñez's defense request that it be a face-to-face hearing, Lima indicated that it is a point that must be analyzed by the judges, but that the Government will provide "the best conditions" whether virtual or face-to-face.

Jorge Valda, one of Áñez's lawyers, demanded during his intervention the suspension of the hearing due to the connection problems that he himself experienced and due to the "violation of the principle of immediacy".

"We do not know who is behind the screens because we are not seeing it, as my client is not seeing them, as none of the defendants and none of the accusers are seeing them, for which this aspect violates the principle of immediacy," the lawyer said.

Another of Áñez's lawyers, Luis Guillén, said that "when this new order is issued" it is considered that the hearing should be held in person.

For her part, the senator of Creo Centa Rek maintained that it is a "mounted trial" against Áñez and that a trial by ordinary justice does not correspond as she is a former president.

"The government wants to generate this confrontation, it wants to generate a climate of violence, why so much hatred?" Rek questioned.

Áñez, in preventive detention for almost 11 months in a prison in La Paz, is also being prosecuted for another case called "coup d'état I" on alleged charges of sedition, conspiracy and terrorism.