LA PAZ, (Reuters) – Bolivia’s attorney general is seeking a prison sentence of 30 years for former President Jeanine Anez, who is set to be tried for genocide over deaths during protests that followed the country’s 2019 election, officials said yesterday.
More than 30 people, largely supporters of former President Evo Morales, were killed amid unrest in late 2019, following a vote that saw Morales elected but later resign and leave the country amid accusations of election fraud.
Anez then assumed power, taking office for less than a year before fresh elections in October 2020.
Last year, a Bolivian court found Anez guilty of orchestrating a coup that brought her to power. She is in prison after receiving a 10-year sentence.
Anez has rejected all accusations and in a social media post on Monday called the state “cowards” and said that the current government resembled “a pure dictatorship” in response to the latest charges of genocide.
Attorney General Juan Lanchipa told a press conference that specialized military forces “used weapons with war ammunition against civilians,” resulting in deaths and multiple injuries from “the impact of firearm projectiles.”
“These events occurred after planning and execution of joint military police operations ordered by the government through the army and police commanders,” Lanchipa said.
Anez and some of her former government colleagues, as well as former military and police chiefs, are all now formally due to be tried, Lanchipa added.
