The former president was declared in contempt after failing to attend hearing.

On Monday, Prosecutor Luis Gutierrez announced the suspension of the trial against former Bolivian President Evo Morales until the leftist leader voluntarily appears before the court or police execute an arrest warrant against him.

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The hearing for the start of the trial over alleged human trafficking charges against Morales began at 8:30 a.m. local time in the city of Tarija. The former Bolivian president and his lawyers did not appear, leading the court to declare him in contempt and issue arrest and travel restriction orders to prevent him from leaving the country.

Gutierrez explained that enforcement of the arrest warrant against the former president corresponds to the police and “is not an attribution” of the Prosecutor’s Office.

Morales’ lawyers did not present any justification for his absence and, due to the lack of private defense representation at the hearing, it was decided that the politician would be assisted by public defense attorneys.

From the city of La Paz, Wilfredo Chavez, one of Morales’ lawyers, indicated that the former president was not personally notified to attend the start of the trial, but rather through a judicial edict, which constitutes a “substantive procedural flaw.”

He also mentioned that the trial against the former president has a political character because it was “dusted off” at a time when there are several social protests against right-wing President Rodrigo Paz.

Since October 2024, Morales has remained in the Tropic of Cochabamba, a coca-growing farming region located in central Bolivia and considered his political and union stronghold.

Between October and November 2024, police were unable to execute a detention order against Morales because his supporters blocked roads to prevent officers from entering the region where the leftist leader remains sheltered.

The former president is accused of allegedly having maintained a relationship with a minor, with whom he allegedly had a daughter while serving as president of Bolivia in 2016.

During the preliminary investigation phase, in early 2025, a judge had already declared Morales in contempt after he failed to appear on two occasions for a hearing intended to resolve the charges against him, citing health problems. In October 2025, the Public Prosecutor’s Office filed the formal indictment against him.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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