Bolivia Respects Due Process With Santa Cruz Governor

According to the Bolivian government, the due legal process is being complied with regarding Luis Fernando Camacho since "there is a prosecutorial order [for his apprehension] within a criminal process, which has jurisdictional control."

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"The rules are for everyone," said the Minister of Justice, Iván Lima, in a press conference when he said that "neither the arrest warrant, nor the actions of the Bolivian Police, nor the precautionary hearing can be discussed in the scope of due process with legal arguments."

Camacho is prosecuted as a perpetrator in the case "Coup d'état I" for the 2019 crisis. The opposition leader is accused of organizing mobilizations and promoting the police rebellion, which pressured former president Evo Morales (2006-2019) to resign from office.

In this regard, the Minister said the coup d'état case was initiated in October 2020, for which Camacho was summoned to testify; however, he refused to do so. The Governor of Santa Cruz has resorted to excuses to avoid testifying, thus preventing the conclusion of the investigation until today, Lima added.

Hours after the judge's decision, the Minister of Justice, Iván Lima, reappears to assure that "due process and judicial independence have been respected" in the case of the preventive detention of the Governor of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho.

The official rejected the accusations of irregular and violent apprehension, alleging that "there is a prosecutorial order [for apprehension] within a criminal process, with jurisdictional control, which the Bolivian Police have executed in the correct terms of due process."

The proceedings have been carried out "respecting to the maximum the procedural guarantees, the transparency of Justice, and we are guaranteeing judicial independence," said the Minister of Justice. 

Camacho is currently being held in the maximum security prison of Chonchocoro, in the department of La Paz. The Eighth Preventive Criminal Trial Judge of the Departmental Court of Justice of La Paz, Sergio Pacheco, ordered Camacho's preventive detention for four months.