Ruptly
"A Bolivian court suspended the human trafficking trial of former president Evo Morales after he failed to appear at a scheduled hearing on Monday. Following his absence, the court renewed an arrest warrant against Morales and again declared him in contempt, according to the Prosecutor's Office. The case centres on alleged events between 2014 and 2016, when Morales was president of Bolivia. Prosecutors allege he had a relationship with a 15-year-old girl, who later gave birth to a child, and claim the girl's parents consented to the relationship. Tarija departmental prosecutor Jose Mogro said the Public Prosecutor's Office has formally accused both Morales and the minor's mother, Idelsa Pozo, of human trafficking. "The Public Prosecutor's Office has already charged Mr Evo Morales and the mother of the minor victim, Mrs Idelsa Pozo, with the crime of human trafficking," Mogro said. "In this case, we are going to request the maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for both defendants," he said. Morales previously denied wrongdoing and described the case as politically motivated. The lawyer Abel Guzman criticised the handling of the case and questioned the independence of Bolivia's justice system. "There is apparently no legal certainty in this country," Guzman said, claiming the judiciary had been 'co-opted' by the executive branch and that political power was influencing legal and electoral matters. He said the situation caused concern among defendants, who did not feel they had the necessary legal guarantees. The case was reopened in 2024 after investigators received information from the Department of Criminal Analysis and Intelligence, known as DACI. Prosecutors said the indictment includes 128 pieces of documentary evidence and testimony from 49 witnesses."
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