Bolivian ex-President Anez released from prison after serving nearly 5 years

BOGOTA, Colombia

Bolivian former President Jeanine Anez was released from prison Thursday after spending more than four years behind bars, a day after the country’s top court annulled her 10-year sentence for alleged coup plotting.

The Supreme Court of Justice overturned Anez’s sentence, which had been handed down in 2022 for “breach of duties” and “violating the constitutional order,” according to local media reports.

The court cited procedural irregularities and legal inconsistencies in the ruling as the reason for annulling the conviction.

Upon her release, Anez appeared holding the Bolivian flag, saying: “There was never a coup in this country; there was electoral fraud.”

She added that she would not hesitate to serve her country again if needed.

“This is a responsibility every Bolivian who loves their country must assume. I knew there would be a price to pay, but I accepted it nonetheless,” she said.

In June 2022, an anti-corruption court in La Paz sentenced Anez to 10 years in prison in what was known as the “second coup case,” accusing her of unconstitutional actions and abuse of power during her interim presidency, which she assumed following the resignation of Evo Morales in November 2019 primarily due to widespread protests and pressure from the military following a disputed election marred by allegations of fraud.

Bolivia plunged into political turmoil after the Oct. 20, 2019 general elections, when opposition protests over alleged electoral fraud escalated into violent unrest.

Morales resigned on Nov. 10, 2019 and later went into exile in Mexico and Argentina.

As then-vice president of the Senate, Anez assumed the presidency amid the power vacuum, triggering protests by Morales supporters—mostly from Indigenous communities—that left more than 30 people dead.

New general elections were eventually held on Oct. 18, 2020, in which Luis Arce, Morales’ ally from the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party, won with 55% of the vote, paving the way for Morales’ return to Bolivia a year after his resignation.