The spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS) pointed to, on Sunday 19 June, the “structural deficiencies” in the Bolivian judicial system in the light of the ten-year prison sentence handed down to former interim president Jeanine Áñez, who is on trial for the alleged coup against former far-left president Evo Morales (see EUROPE 12709/10 and 12678/25).
In a statement, the spokesperson cites a preliminary report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which states that Ms Áñez’s rights to defence were not fully respected during the trial. The notion of ‘failure to fulfil duties’, the crime for which Ms Áñez was accused, was “excessively broad and ambiguous”, according to the UN report, which also points to the excessive use of preventive detention and recommends avoiding trials in absentia.
The EEAS spokesperson assured that the European Union is ready to cooperate with the Bolivian authorities in order to help them achieve their goal of reforming the judicial system. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)