Ex-Bolivian interim president Áñez has prison sentence overturned
Bolivian ex-president Jeanine Anez was sentenced for an alleged plot, which was dismissed at the time as fictional by many pundits, to oust her rival and predecessor Evo Morales.
Rio de Janeiro (dpa) - Bolivia's Supreme Court has overturned the 10-year prison sentence handed down to former interim president Jeanine Áñez and ordered her immediate release.
The verdict against her was declared null and void because the underlying criminal law has been amended retrospectively, the court's president, Romer Saucedo, said according to the newspaper La Razón quoted.
The decision was said to be intended to guarantee the right to a fair trial.
Áñez was convicted in June 2022 for unconstitutional decisions and breaches of duty as interim president.
The arch-conservative took the helm of a transitional government after left-wing leader Evo Morales was forced to step down under pressure from the military and following allegations of electoral fraud in 2019.
He fled abroad but was able to return after the leading candidate Luis Arce of the left-wing MAS party won the presidential election in October 2020.
Bolivia is facing political upheaval with the victory of Senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira in the recent runoff election in October.
The candidate from the Christian Democratic Party will take office as president on Saturday, ending an era of left-wing governments under Morales and Arce that lasted almost two decades.