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She is also under investigation for the crime of economic damage, after irregularly arranging a loan of US$346.7 million with the IMF.
During a hearing at the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office of the Beni Department on Monday, Jeanine Añez, Jeanine Añez, the leader of the coup-born regime that ruled Bolivia from 2019-2020, refused to make statements in a trial against her for negligence in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.
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"I came to the Prosecutor's Office with the intention of not hindering the process, but I made no declaration as it is my constitutional right," said Añez, who is amid an election campaign for the governorship of the Beni department.
Her lawyer Alvaro Coimbra declared that the initiation of criminal proceedings against Añez has no legal basis.
Instead, the prosecutor should start a "responsibility" trial, which must be previously approved by two-thirds of the Parliament.
In just nine months,Jeanine Añez's $346.7 million IMF loan cost Bolivians $24.3 million. Today, President of the Central Bank of Bolivia, Edwin Rojas,announced the return of the full sum of the loan "in defense of the economic sovereignty of the country." Courtesy @KawsachunNews pic.twitter.com/gwS6xID5kL
— #THETACKLE (@geraldbitok) February 18, 2021
Añez, who is currently amid an election campaign for the governorship of the Beni department, is accused of failing to comply with a Constitutional Resolution that ordered the delivery of COVID-19 equipment, human resources, and biosecurity supplies to the Chuquisaca department.
She and several members of her cabinet are currently under investigation for the crime of economic damage, after irregularly arranging a loan of US$347 million with the International Monetary Fund.
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