The United Nations rapporteur for judicial independence will travel to Bolivia

Áñez’s defense confirms that she has requested a meeting with García-Sayán in the Miraflores prison

MADRID, 14 (EUROPE PRESS)

The United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of magistrates and lawyers, Diego García-Sayán, has announced that this Tuesday he will begin an official visit to Bolivia that will last for a week.

“I will address issues related to the structure, organization and independent and impartial functioning of the judiciary, prosecutors and the exercise of the legal profession,” García-Sayán reported in a publication on his Twitter social network profile.

In this sense, the Minister of Justice of Bolivia, Iván Lima, has confirmed the news and added that the United Nations rapporteur will meet with “agents of the State” and with “all the actors of all political visions.”

According to the minister, García-Sayán is expected to deliver a series of preliminary conclusions at the end of his visit, while the final report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in July of next year, according to the Bolivian newspaper ‘La Razón’.

Former President Evo Morales has echoed the news and has welcomed the rapporteur who, according to him, is coming to the country to “verify the independence of Justice.” “It will be useful for his work to meet, learn about and collect testimonies from victims of massacres, extrajudicial executions, persecution and torture by the de facto government,” he said, referring to the period led by former president Jeanine Áñez.

In fact, Áñez herself already made an appeal last week to García-Sayán and urged him to visit the country so that he could learn “first-hand” about the “illegal trial” he is facing for the ‘Coup d’etat’ case. , in which she is investigated for alleged sedition, terrorism and conspiracy for her role in the framework of the 2019 post-election crisis.

Later it was Áñez’s defense attorney Alaín de Canedo himself, who reported that a meeting between García-Sayán and the former president had been requested in the penitentiary facilities of the Miraflores prison.

“A meeting with the rapporteur has been requested, we understand that this has been received favorably (…) It is up to the rapporteur to set a day and time. The former president has expressly requested that she be visited in the Miraflores prison”, has pointed out De Canedo, according to the Bolivian newspaper ‘El Deber’.

In this regard, Minister Lima has recognized that “the agenda with civil society is handled by the High Commissioner with the rapporteur directly”, so the possible meeting between Áñez and García-Sayán will depend on the rapporteur himself.