Bolivia Extends Remand of Coup Leader Añez For Three Months

At the request of the Bolivian Interior Ministry and the Attorney General’s Office, Judge Armando Zeballos extended for three months the preventive detention of the 2019 coup leader Jeanine Añez on Monday.

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In March 2021, Jeanine Añez was held under pre-trial arrest for the Coup I case, in which she is accused of sedition, terrorism, and conspiracy to overthrow President Evo Morales in 2019. The remand was initially intended to last four months, but it has been extended since June.

"I continue to be punished at the pleasure of my executioners. The case of terrorism does not exist. I am innocent," she alleged. The facts, however, show otherwise given that an investigation conducted in 2021 by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) showed that she approved a decree on Nov. 16, 2019, to exempt the Police and Armed Forces from any criminal responsibility.

From Sept. to Dec. 31, 2019, protected by this impunity tool, security officers killed 37 Bolivians, injured 800 people, detained over 1,000 citizens, and committed sexual violence against female detainees.

On Feb. 9, Añez began a hunger strike over the start of the trial for the Coup II case, in which she is accused of assuming the presidency of Bolivia irregularly. The strike put her in a critical health state, which prevented her from participating in a case hearing held on Feb. 17.

“Five doctors tried to put Añez in a suitable state, but she had a tremor throughout her body, numbness in her face and legs, cramps, cold, headache, and vomiting," stated Norka Cuellar, a member of her legal team.

Given this situation, the day before, Judge Franklin Siñani authorized that the coup leader was transferred from La Paz City jail to the Clinicas Hospital to receive medical care.