World · Latin America · 2 hrs ago
Bolivia opens investigation into Evo Morales over 2009 killings
Bolivia’s attorney general has opened a preliminary investigation into former president Evo Morales and former vice-president Álvaro García Linera.
It concerns a 2009 police raid on a hotel in Santa Cruz, where officers killed three European citizens.
Two other men survived and said they were tortured after being arrested.
Morales’s government said at the time that one of the men killed was leading a separatist effort backed by wealthy business interests in Santa Cruz.
The new inquiry is based on a complaint by two rightwing lawmakers and examines alleged murder, abuse, torture and unlawful detention.
In 2021, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concluded that the government had violated human rights in the case.
Morales and García Linera have not commented on the latest inquiry, and the attorney general’s office says it is gathering evidence.
Bolivia’s acting attorney general has opened a preliminary investigation into former president Evo Morales over alleged involvement in killings and torture in 2009.
The investigation also names former vice-president Álvaro García Linera.
The case concerns a police raid on a hotel in Santa Cruz in which three European citizens were killed and two survivors reported being tortured.
The inquiry followed a complaint by rightwing lawmakers Tomasa Yarhui and Rodrigo Antonio.
Morales has not commented on the inquiry.
- Who
- Former president Evo Morales and former vice-president Álvaro García Linera are under investigation.
- What
- Bolivia has opened a preliminary investigation into alleged murder, abuse, torture and unlawful detention.
- When
- The killings occurred in 2009; the investigation was announced on Monday, one week after José Armando Urioste began his job as acting attorney general.
- Where
- The raid took place at a hotel in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
- Why
- The investigation follows a complaint by lawmakers Tomasa Yarhui and Rodrigo Antonio and concerns allegations linked to the 2009 killings and reported torture.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Police raided a hotel in Santa Cruz, killing Eduardo Rózsa Flores, Michael Dwyer and Árpád Magyarosi.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concluded that the government had violated human rights.
Acting attorney general José Armando Urioste announced a preliminary investigation into Morales and García Linera.
- Investigation
- Preliminary inquiry into Morales and former vice-president Álvaro García Linera
- Deaths
- Three people were killed in the 2009 hotel raid
- Location
- Santa Cruz, Bolivia
- Survivors
- Mario Tadic and Elöd Tóásó survived and reported being tortured
- Complaint
- Filed by lawmakers Tomasa Yarhui and Rodrigo Antonio
What people are saying
for the alleged commission of the crimes of murder, abuse, torture and unlawful detention
mercenaries
Sources
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