May 25, 2023, 4:00 AM
May 25, 2023, 4:00 AM
The photograph of an alleged meeting between the former manager of the China Harbor Engineering (Chec) company together with former officials of the Bolivian Highway Administration (ABC) was not submitted to an expert opinion by the Prosecutor’s Office that would allow the investigation to be archived on the alleged irregularity in the adjudication of the construction of the Sucre-Yamparáez highway.
The defendant’s lawyer Juan Carlos Hidalgo stated that nor was there an identifying parade that could show who was at that meeting in the Residencial Bolivia, in Sucre.
“The alleged meetings were not part of the expertise that has been carried out because, I reiterate, that the expertise went to the review of cell phones and the hiring process. Beyond the photographic sequence, there is also no identifying parade to demonstrate that the person who was on the other side was precisely one of those who belong to the Chec company considering that, in addition, he speaks the Chinese language and a conversation between a Bolivian and a Chinese is incoherent,” said lawyer Bruno Herrera.
He added that the protected witness Felipe Sandy Rivero “should have clarified if there was a Bolivian translator.”
In January 2022, there would have been a meeting between the former Chinese manager and members of the ABC company rating commission. Sandy took a photograph of that day in which some sheets of the proposal submitted for the award of the work were modified and replaced. Three pages and two forms had to be changed. For this reason, they would have asked Jin Zhengyuan to bring a printer, the page number and the stamps used in the presentation of his proposal so as not to leave evidence of the change, according to the complaint.
The resolution to dismiss the case does not include any expertise on the photographss, yes, the researchers asked those involved if they recognized the people who appeared in the photos.
Carlos Rafael Chipana, a former ABC official, reports that the floors of the hostel rooms were made of machimbre, which coincides with the floor in the photo of the “illegal” meeting. While Javier López points out that “the photographs were blurry and the place is not located either”. The other interviewees could not recognize the people, except Hidalgo.
Mr. Jin’s lawyer, Édgar Petersen, said that “eight months ago I explained that these types of meetings, unfortunately the gentlemen of ABC did not have a place to talk and in order to determine the construction of the road they met at the hotel. That is the most normal thing in the world and it is common for people who travel ”.
Regarding the change of roles denounced and admitted by Juan Carlos Hidalgo, his defense indicated that This statement cannot be used for or against the former employee and, like the Prosecutor’s Office, invoked the principle of non-self-incrimination.
Petersen noted that the expert determined that there was no change of documents and that the documentation presented was correct. While Marco Antonio Reyes, William Mamani’s lawyer, said that it could not be proven that his defendant called Hidalgo to make the alleged corrections since the calls were made from an unknown number.
“We have distorted the ‘big change’ and he (William Mamani) was not in the meeting, he was not in Sucre,” he said. Regarding the supposed change of power of the Chec company, he said that responsibility was thrown to legal counsel who was in charge of making the assessment of the documents presented to proceed with the adjudication or not of the work.
