The Bolivian Supreme Court of Justice on Wednesday annulled a 10-year prison sentence given to former interim President Jeanine Anez in 2022 and ordered her immediate release.
according to the newspaper La RazonCourt President Romar Saucedo said the verdict against him had been declared invalid because the underlying criminal law had been amended retroactively.
According to Saucedo, the conviction was overturned based on “numerous arguments” and a vote of seven of the nine justices.
He explained that the decision was based on due process violations found during Anez’s trial through normal legal channels.
It was said that the purpose of this decision was to guarantee the right to a fair trial. The court ordered that Anez, who has been jailed for more than four years, be put on political trial as requested by his defense team.
Why was Anez convicted?
In June 2022, Anez was convicted of making unconstitutional decisions and violating his duties as interim president.
Anez assumed the presidency following the resignation of leftist leader Evo Morales under pressure from the military and amid allegations of electoral fraud in 2019.
The political crisis led to mass protests, resulting in 37 deaths.
Morales fled the country but was able to return after Luis Arce, the leading candidate of the leftist MAS party, won the presidential election in October 2020.
In the 2025 presidential election, whose runoff was held in October, Senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira emerged victorious, sparking a period of political turmoil in Bolivia.
Pereira, the Christian Democratic Party candidate, will be sworn in as president on Saturday, ending nearly two decades of leftist governments led by Morales and Arce.
Edited by: Srinivas Majumdaru