Lawsuit Against Evo for Statutory Rape and Human Trafficking Leads to Dismissal of Tarija Prosecutor | Demanda contra Evo por estupro y trata de personas provoca despido de la fiscal de Tarija

By Marco Antonio Chuquimia, El Deber:

Evo Morales, expresidente de Bolivia. Foto. APG
Evo Morales, former president of Bolivia. Photo. APG

On September 26, Iván Lima had announced he would push for trials against those who “destroyed the innocence of young girls.”

A trial in El Alto, two in La Paz, one in Trinidad (Beni), and another in Tarija are the five lawsuits reportedly filed against former president Evo Morales, most following the march he led from September 17 to 23.

In the latest trial in Tarija, there is a prosecutor’s resolution for Morales’ arrest, as denounced by former minister Carlos Romero. An hour later, the department prosecutor of Tarija, Sandra Gutiérrez, confirmed that she had been removed from her position due to this case.

“An arrest warrant was issued arbitrarily in Tarija under the order of departmental prosecutor Sandra Gutiérrez, who on September 26 hastily formed a commission of prosecutors and initiated ex officio actions against former president Morales with a series of accusations. This process was conducted in just two hours,” stated the former minister in a press conference.

According to information from Tarija, the case involves statutory rape and human trafficking, with Morales as the accused. The process was opened ex officio, said Romero. He detailed that within two hours, a police intelligence report, a formal charge, and an arrest warrant were prepared.

Shortly after Romero’s press conference, a press briefing was held by Tarija’s departmental prosecutor, Sandra Gutiérrez, who confirmed the case of human trafficking and statutory rape, which allegedly occurred when the minor was 15 years old.

Press records mention a case in Tarija involving Evo Morales and a minor with the initials C.V.P., with whom he allegedly had a child. According to those reports, the incident occurred in 2016; however, the case never progressed and was archived. Sandra Gutiérrez stated that the victim could not be identified due to the time elapsed since the events.

She confirmed the existence of an arrest warrant, and that the case had been kept confidential. However, two unexpected developments occurred on Wednesday: first, Morales’ lawyers in Santa Cruz filed for and won a writ of habeas corpus, nullifying the arrest warrant.

Second, a communication from the attorney general, Juan Lanchipa, instructed Gutiérrez to send all the case documents to his office in Sucre. Gutiérrez refused to hand over the case, and she received a dismissal notice from the Attorney General’s Office.

The case exploded nearly a week after former Justice Minister Iván Lima warned of impending lawsuits against Evo Morales. “I will be able to assume defense, file charges, and carry out trials against those who have harmed the Bolivian people, those who have been part of not only destroying the innocence of young girls, but also the innocence of families,” said Lima in his farewell speech.

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