Demonstrators in Bolivia’s Santa Cruz have clashed with police following the detention of the regional governor, a key right-wing opposition leader.
On Friday evening, protesters in the streets of the capital torched cars, pelted rocks, burnt tires, and tossed firecrackers toward the police. The security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowds and made at least four arrests.
During the day, largely peaceful groups protested around the city by blocking roads with tires, rocks, and flags strung across streets as blockades.
Pedro Vaca, the special rapporteur for freedom of expression for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), said in a post on Twitter he was receiving reports of “severe attacks” on the media, allegedly attributed to police deployments.
“I call on the authorities to give public instructions to their agents on the duty to guarantee freedoms of press, peaceful assembly, and association,” he said.
Violence erupted after a judge detained Santa Cruz Governor Luis Fernando Camacho on “terrorism” charges” for his alleged involvement in 2019 political unrest that saw then-President Evo Morales flee the country.
Camacho was sentenced to four months of detention late Thursday and was later transferred to a maximum security prison 25km away from the capital city of La Paz early Friday morning. He has maintained his innocence since.
The governor’s office has claimed that Camacho had been “kidnapped in a completely irregular police operation.” However, the state attorney’s office rejected the allegations that the arrest was a kidnapping or constituted political persecution.
Camacho is the second high-profile political figure linked to Morales’ ouster to be detained. Ex-President Jeanine Anez was given a 10-year prison term last year after being found guilty of orchestrating a “coup.”
Speaking during the virtual hearing, held in the La Paz police station, Camacho struck a defiant note stating he would “never give up on this fight for Bolivia’s democracy”.
State prosecutor Omar Mejillones said holding him in custody was a “precautionary measure.”
Meanwhile, some companies said they would hold sales while Camacho remained in jail.
A spokesperson for United Nations chief, Antonio Guterres, has said he is concerned about the situation in Bolivia and has called for “all political and social actors to exercise maximum restraint”.
Source: PressTV
