Bolivia's former president, Jeanine Anez, has confirmed that she will be held for four months in pretrial detention on charges of involvement in a coup that resulted in the ouster of her predecessor Evo Morales.
“The MAS [Movement for Socialism party] decides and the judicial system obeys: they are sending me to detention for four months to await a trial for a 'coup' that never happened," she tweeted after the verdict was given in a virtual hearing.
Anez is facing charges of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy.
Twitter is running cover for fascist US-backed Bolivian coup leader Jeanine Áñez. They say “alleged” coup and portray her arrest as something destabilizing rather than something normal that would happen anywhere to a person who overthrew a democratically elected government. pic.twitter.com/0MbaWMcckz
— Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) March 14, 2021
The former president was taken into custody over the weekend after a court issued arrest warrants for her and several of her ministers.
Her former energy minister Rodrigo Guzman and justice minster Alvaro Coimbra were also arrested.
On Sunday, prosecutors filed an indictment, seeking a six-moth pretrial custody for the trio.
Anez, who would be held in a women's prison in La Paz, told reporters that the rule of law was being “undermined” and that Bolivia could become a “no man's land.”
Earlier, former president Morales called for the orchestrators of the coup that took place two years ago to be punished.
How the Guardian framed the massacre Bolivian dictator Jeanine Añez ordered vs. how it framed her arrest ?
— Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) March 14, 2021
Cancel your subscriptions. Turn on your adblockers. pic.twitter.com/wVVn2yAKQz
Following weeks of deadly protests over opposition allegations of vote rigging in the 2019 presidential elections, Morales was forced into exile, and Anez took over as caretaker president.
Morales returned to Bolivia from exile after his leftist Movement for Socialism party romped to victory in the October 2020 general elections, and took over the leadership of the party.
This is why, along with so many other crimes, Jeanine Áñez was arrested in Bolivia. It’s not opposition repression. It’s Justice. ✊??? pic.twitter.com/4dkJHXeTx8
— BayArea ML☭ ? (@bayareas415) March 15, 2021
Morales, who has already expressed his support for the arrests via twitter, said on Sunday that "the constitution has been violated" and that Anez had "appointed herself president.”
Anez denies any overthrow and says the demonstrations were the result of election fraud.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
