Justice removes Añez from the ‘Golpe I’ case; Camacho and Pumari prepare incidents

The oral and in-person phase of the trial for the “Coup d’état I” case began, an open process to clarify the facts between November 10 and 12, 2019. On this first day, the judge removed former president Jeanine Áñez from the process because “she cannot be tried twice for the same fact.”

Meanwhile, the defense lawyers of the governor of Santa Cruz Luis Fernando Camacho and the former president of the Potosinista Civic Committee (Comcipo), Marco Antonio Pumari, prepare the incidents and objections to the accusations, which They will be presented on the second day of the oral trial hearing that will be reinstated on Thursday, October 24.

“First time We see a result based on law, after three years and seven months that we haves fought for my mother’s freedom and they have rejected us. This (ruling) is a light, the night is not eternal and it is a hope for us,” said Carolina Áñez, daughter of the former president, as she left the courthouse.

According to the former president’s defense, several appeals or incidents were presented before and during the beginning of the oral trial, among them, on Friday, October 11, an exception of incompetence was presented, on Wednesday afternoon a “incident of defective procedural activity due to double jeopardy”given that Áñez was already sentenced to 10 years in the “Golpe II” case for similar crimes, they also filed an action for freedom against the sentencing court.

“Today it has been determined that the former president, Jeanine Áñez Chávez, be removed from the judicial process carried out for the crime of terrorism. Therefore, the former president is not going to participate as a defendant in this process and from this the proceedings will be archived,” said lawyer Luis Guillén.

The reason for excluding Áñez from the “Coup I” case is that there is already a ruling within the “Coup II” process of resolutions contrary to the Political Constitution of the State, a case in which the same events of November 2019 have been dealt with. , the same dates have been mentioned when former president Evo Morales resigned along with his then vice president, Álvaro García, as well as the presidents of the Senate and Deputies at that time: Adriana Salvatierra and Víctor Borda, respectively.

Until yesterday, the former head of state was accused of terrorism in the “Coup I” case with a degree of complicity.

That was the most relevant result after almost eleven hours of the first day of the hearing of the in-person trial for the “Coup I” case. criminal process in which the governor of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho and the former president of the Potosinista Civic Committee (Comcipo), Marco Antonio Pumari, both with their respective lawyers, both held in the Chonchocoro (Viacha) and Cantumarca (Potosí) prisons, respectively.

In the case of the latter, they were not benefited by the judge since they were not prosecuted in the trial of the “Golpe II” case.” which dealt with resolutions contrary to the Political Constitution, in which the former president was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2022.

However, the defense lawyers of Governor Camacho and former leader Pumari, They announced that when the hearing is reinstated next week, they will also present the procedural incidents because “absolute defects” in the process were identified and that they violate the rights of Camacho and Pumari.

Although the hearing lasted almost eleven hours, with at least four intermissions, the defense lawyers of the last two defendants were unable to present their incidents, therefore, they await the hearing on the 24th to present their arguments and request that they also be removed from the “Coup I” case.

Meanwhile, both accused people were returned to the prisons of Viacha and Potosí, in operations similar to their transfer to court, that is, with a large number of armed police officers.

The accusations against them are for the alleged commission of crimes such as terrorism, active briberyimproper use of public goods and services and criminal association. Camacho and Pumari are accused of being responsible.

Beyond the court hearing, the cuffs on their wrists and dozens of police officers surrounding them, the main actors: Jeanine, Luis Fernando and Marco, starred in an emotional reunion, full of smiles and positive vibes that these three leaders transmitted, according to the images that were left for posterity and that were “viralized” on social networks.

The intense day of Thursday’s judicial hearing began at five in the morning for Governor Fernando Camacho. At that time and when the shadows of the night still covered the pampa that surrounds Chonchocoro, a caravan of vehicles paraded along the highway until they reached the courts of La Paz.

Almost simultaneously, in another operation, Marco Pumari was transferred from the San Pedro prison to the courts in the old town of the city of La Paz. The last to be transferred was former President Áñez, who appeared at the gate of the Miraflores prison handcuffed, with her arms raised and with a smile she paraded through the line of police officers armed to the teeth.

“It wasn’t a coup, it was fraud!” was the phrase that the former president fired before the police forced her to get into the police vehicle. Áñez’s phrase motivated several of his former collaborators to come out of the shadows and express their support for all those prosecuted in this case.

“It wasn’t a coup, it was fraud, free them now!” Áñez’s former minister, Fernando López, who is a refugee in Paraguay, wrote on the social network

“Freedom for Fernando Camacho, Jeanine Añez and Marco Pumari,” demanded former Foreign Minister Karen Longaric on the same social network.

The big absentee at the beginning of the trial for the “Golpe I” case was the main accuser, the former deputy and current vice consul of Bolivia in Argentina, Lidia Patty. The only one who was present on the first day of Patty’s in-person trial was her lawyer Victor Nina who confirmed that the complainant will not face her accusers and appointed a representative.

It is known that former deputy Patty was appointed as vice consul of Bolivia in Argentina, in mid-2023 after a failed diplomatic effort in Peru.

In addition to her, the main “victims” of the terrorism case did not attend the hearing, such as former President Evo Morales, former Vice President Álvaro García and the former Presidents of the Senate and Deputies, Adriana Salvatierra and Víctor Borda, respectively. These four characters resigned from their positions in a chain on November 10, 2019, causing a power vacuum in the midst of social upheaval.

Likewise, five people accused of terrorism did not participate in the hearing, among them the former Minister of Defense Luis Fernando López, the former commanders of the Armed Forces William Kaliman and Sergio Orellanathe former commander of the Police, General Yuri Calderón, and the former inspector of the Armed Forces, Jorge Fernández Toranzo. The official whereabouts of these last four defendants are unknown.

The early morning transfer of the three accused surprised all the people, groups and politicians of the MAS and the opposition who arrived on the street of the court when the Police had already formed a security ring one block from the perimeter and did not allow entry. to the audience of legislators and much less of the press, supposedly by order of the judge.

Thus, mid-morning there were moments of tension between the legislators of Creo and sympathizers with a group related to the MAS that demanded the maximum sentence for the accused. Cries of “fraud” were heard on one side, “coup” on the other, and references were made against Evo Morales for his accusations of abuse against minors.

Yet, Senator Centa Rek of We Believe that in the afternoon she managed to enter the hallways of the court to see Añez, Camacho and Pumari, He highlighted that the three showed great strength despite their imprisonment and the various trials against them.

“The three leaders surprised me, both Fernando Camacho, Jeanine Añez and Marco Pumari because they are very strong, very firm, with the conviction that they did the right thing, physically they look good despite their imprisonment,” Rek told EL DEBER.

For the legislator, the three leaders became a symbol and emblem of struggle that calls on all the opposition to unite “to recover democracy, freedom and justice.”

The trial will be reinstated on the morning of Thursday, October 24.

The president of the sixth anti-corruption sentencing court, Marco Antonio Vargas, said: “The court will apply the Political Constitution of the State, international treaties and standards, and due process.”

Marco Antonio Pumari’s legal defense announced that in his case he would agree to a virtual hearing for the former leader who lives in Potosí.

The trial for the “Golpe I” case was established more than three years after the complaint filed by Lidia Patty, a process in which Jeanine Áñez was the first to be detained and prosecuted.