Bolivian court orders ex-president jailed for 5 months on corruption charges
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — A Bolivian court ruled Friday that the country’s former PAZ President Luis Arce will be detained for five months while awaiting trial on corruption charges; It’s the latest development in a case that threatens to worsen political tensions in Bolivia.
Arce, 62, one of the leaders of Bolivia’s Movement Towards Socialism party, was elected in 2020 and left office after the events a month ago. Bolivia’s first right-wing leader was elected in almost twenty years. He strongly denies the accusations of breach of duty and financial misconduct. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison.
two days later Arce’s sudden arrest A judge on the streets of Bolivia’s capital La Paz ordered his detention during a virtual hearing on Friday.
Arce was transferred overnight to La Paz, one of Bolivia’s largest prisons. The hearing date was not announced.
The accusations concern the alleged transfer of millions of dollars from a state fund to private accounts and date back to Arce’s time as economy minister. former President Evo Morales From 2006 to 2017.
Although the scandal first broke in 2017, investigations into the alleged bribery stalled during Morales’ presidency when it became clear that Bolivian courts were subservient to the then political power. The case was reopened conservative President Rodrigo PazHe started his job last monthfinish almost twenty years of dominance by the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party.
Paz campaigned on a promise cleansing up the government and seeking justice for corruption as he comes to power on a wave of anger Bolivia’s worst economic crisis in forty years.
Arce criticized the accusations as political persecution.
“I am a scapegoat,” he told the judge, emphasizing that he had no personal involvement with the government fund under scrutiny, which supports Indigenous people and peasant farmers who form the backbone of MAS support.
“The accusations are politically motivated”
Officials involved in a previous version of the investigation said Arce was accused of siphoning money from rural development projects to ensure the loyalty of MAS-allied union and Indigenous leaders during election campaigns.
Morales was elected to three consecutive terms but was dismissed in 2019 when his re-election to an unprecedented fourth term sparked accusations of fraud and mass protests.
Arce’s lawyers asked the judge to release the former president pending trial, citing his battle with kidney cancer several years ago.
But Judge Elmer Laura overruled the appeal and even ordered him held in state prison for five months, exceeding the prosecution’s request for three months in a juvenile detention center.
“These are crimes that directly impact government assets and resources allocated to sensitive sectors,” Laura said.
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Isabel DeBre in Santiago, Chile, contributed to this report.
