Two former military chiefs prosecuted for the so-called “Coup d’etat II” case decided not to give legal battle to the accusations against them and agreed to go to a short trial that implies an admission of guilt; Two others decided not to take advantage of that figure that implies a sentence reduction in exchange for “yes, I am guilty”, and will continue to fight to prove their innocence in an unequal process where justice is on the side of the accusing Government. In the first case They are the former commander of the Air Force, General Gonzalo Terceros, and the former commander of the Navy, Admiral Gonzalo Jarjuri.
The news was not given by the military, nor by her family, nor by her defense attorneys, but rather, curiously, it was the Minister of Justice, Iván Lima, who reported that decision the same day that the trial against former president Jeanine Áñez should have begun and that it was postponed from surprising way. According to the minister, this request for a sentence to be issued through the abbreviated procedure “is an acknowledgment of responsibility and guilt.”
The lawyer of both soldiers, Eusebio Vera, was unaware of the decision of his clients, he found out about Lima’s announcement and later decided to withdraw from the case because he did not agree with that withdrawal and out of respect for the decision of the military family.
A day after the minister’s announcement, the families of the former commanders signed a joint letter in which they say they are convinced that the fight was “absolutely unequal and fruitless” and that despite the refusal of the two former military chiefs they decided to opt ” for the greater good” with the purpose of having them by their side as a united family and after having faced the previous ones of the process alone, abandoned by the military institutions, friends and sympathizers.
Later, the relatives affirm: “We are sure that Bolivia knows the truth of everything and that history cannot be changed with these processes”, that as children they cannot allow their parents to continue to be abused and that is why they prefer to protect them and apologize to his defense attorney and the understanding of the people of Bolivia.
It did not take long for the Minister of Justice to speak again to rule that with the request for an abbreviated trial, Terceros and Jarjuri confirm that there was a coup d’état in the country in 2019, that this procedure will allow the time of the process against Jeanine Áñez to be shortened and that the conviction will be known in a few weeks or months. Two other soldiers accused in the same case, the former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Admiral Flavio Arce San Martín, and the Commander of the Army, General Jorge Mendieta Ferrufino, said, through their respective defense attorneys, that their clients did not they requested abbreviated trials nor will they accept the figure of effective collaborator, as hours before the Vice Minister of Justice, César Siles, had affirmed.
Arce and Mendieta’s attorneys said their clients were willing to submit to oral trials to prove their innocence of the charges against them. Jeanine Áñez’s lawyer, Luis Guillén, denounced that the so-called abbreviated trials will be used as alleged evidence against the defendants and said that a guilt has been negotiated with the Prosecutor’s Office. Other sources do not hesitate to describe the trial against the military as political. Who is behind the abbreviated trials and the pressure so that other soldiers also plead guilty in exchange for shortening their sentences? Perhaps there is not much to lose, because it is well known where the absurd story comes from that they want to change the story of an electoral fraud and a resignation for another that speaks of a coup that did not exist.
Two former military chiefs prosecuted for the so-called “Coup d’etat II” case decided not to give legal battle to the accusations against them and agreed to go to a short trial that implies an admission of guilt; Two others decided not to take advantage of that figure that implies a sentence reduction in exchange for “yes, I am guilty”, and will continue to fight to prove their innocence in an unequal process where justice is on the side of the accusing Government. In the first case They are the former commander of the Air Force, General Gonzalo Terceros, and the former commander of the Navy, Admiral Gonzalo Jarjuri.
The news was not given by the military, nor by her family, nor by her defense attorneys, but rather, curiously, it was the Minister of Justice, Iván Lima, who reported that decision the same day that the trial against former president Jeanine Áñez should have begun and that it was postponed from surprising way. According to the minister, this request for a sentence to be issued through the abbreviated procedure “is an acknowledgment of responsibility and guilt.”
The lawyer of both soldiers, Eusebio Vera, was unaware of the decision of his clients, he found out about Lima’s announcement and later decided to withdraw from the case because he did not agree with that withdrawal and out of respect for the decision of the military family.
A day after the minister’s announcement, the families of the former commanders signed a joint letter in which they say they are convinced that the fight was “absolutely unequal and fruitless” and that despite the refusal of the two former military chiefs they decided to opt ” for the greater good” with the purpose of having them by their side as a united family and after having faced the previous ones of the process alone, abandoned by the military institutions, friends and sympathizers.
Later, the relatives affirm: “We are sure that Bolivia knows the truth of everything and that history cannot be changed with these processes”, that as children they cannot allow their parents to continue to be abused and that is why they prefer to protect them and apologize to his defense attorney and the understanding of the people of Bolivia.
It did not take long for the Minister of Justice to speak again to rule that with the request for an abbreviated trial, Terceros and Jarjuri confirm that there was a coup d’état in the country in 2019, that this procedure will allow the time of the process against Jeanine Áñez to be shortened and that the conviction will be known in a few weeks or months. Two other soldiers accused in the same case, the former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Admiral Flavio Arce San Martín, and the Commander of the Army, General Jorge Mendieta Ferrufino, said, through their respective defense attorneys, that their clients did not they requested abbreviated trials nor will they accept the figure of effective collaborator, as hours before the Vice Minister of Justice, César Siles, had affirmed.
Arce and Mendieta’s attorneys said their clients were willing to submit to oral trials to prove their innocence of the charges against them. Jeanine Áñez’s lawyer, Luis Guillén, denounced that the so-called abbreviated trials will be used as alleged evidence against the defendants and said that a guilt has been negotiated with the Prosecutor’s Office. Other sources do not hesitate to describe the trial against the military as political. Who is behind the abbreviated trials and the pressure so that other soldiers also plead guilty in exchange for shortening their sentences? Perhaps there is not much to lose, because it is well known where the absurd story comes from that they want to change the story of an electoral fraud and a resignation for another that speaks of a coup that did not exist.
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