The 1st Anticorruption Sentencing Court of La Paz sentenced Palmiro Gonzalo Jarjury Rada, former commander general of the Bolivian Navy, and Jorge Gonzalo Terceros Lara, former commander general of the Air Force, to three years in prison for the crimes of Resolutions contrary to the Constitution and the Laws and Breach of Duties in degree of complicity.

La Paz, February 20 (RHC)-- The 1st Anticorruption Sentencing Court of La Paz sentenced Palmiro Gonzalo Jarjury Rada, former commander general of the Bolivian Navy, and Jorge Gonzalo Terceros Lara, former commander general of the Air Force, to three years in prison for the crimes of Resolutions contrary to the Constitution and the Laws and Breach of Duties in degree of complicity.

The judicial sentence was issued after the former military chiefs requested an abbreviated trial, that is, they admitted their guilt about the events that occurred in 2019, during the coup d'état of that year.

"By Resolution of February 14, 2022, the representatives of the Public Prosecutor's Office accept the request of the 2 accused, to submit to the alternative way out of the oral trial, proposing to submit to abbreviated procedure, admitting guilt for the commission of the offenses of 153 (Resolutions contrary to the Constitution and the Laws) and 154 (Breach of Duties) in degree of complicity, with the imposition of a sanctioning sentence of 3 years of reclusion, of PALMIRO GONZALO HARPURI RADA in the Patacayama Penitentiary Center and of JORGE GONZALO TERCEROS LARA in the Palmasola Penitentiary Center (sic)", indicates a report of the abbreviated procedure hearing.

At the hearing, the judge decided that "the abbreviated procedure is accepted, with the imposition of a 3-year prison sentence for PALMIRO GONZALO HARPURI RADA in the Patacayama Penitentiary Center and for JORGE GONZALO TERCEROS LARA in the Palmasola Penitentiary Center (sic)," the report adds.

The hearing was attended by the defense attorney, Eusebio Vera; prosecutors Eddy Junior Flores, Omar Mejillones and other judicial representatives.

According to the prosecutor's indictment, Terceros facilitated the transfer of opposition deputies and senators for the eventual installation of the sessions of the Legislative Assembly with the objective of promoting the succession of Áñez, in addition to endorsing the "illegal investiture and imposition of patriotic symbols on the alleged president", reported La Razón digital.

Meanwhile, Jarjury was charged for also allowing the imposition of patriotic symbols on Áñez on the night of November 12, and for failing to comply with the mandate to guarantee the exercise of an elected president, that is, Evo Morales.

Also charged are Williams Kaliman, former commander of the Armed Forces; Flavio Gustavo Arce, former chief of the General Staff; Pastor Mendieta, former commander of the Army; as well as former police commander Yuri Calderón. Kaliman and Calderón are fugitives.

The report of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) established that the Military High Command, which included Terceros and Jarjuri, gave an ultimatum to the then president Evo Morales to resign from his post.

The IEG determined that the "suggestion" of the Armed Forces and the Police for Morales to resign was an ultimatum that undermined respect for the Constitution.

"The military or police institutions should not make suggestions or recommendations of a political nature to rulers, especially in such a delicate matter as the resignation of public functions, since their commanders, beyond not having legitimacy for such acts, contribute to weaken the respect for the constitutional norm that defines the civilian power as superior to the corporations that these chiefs lead. The capacity of armed action of these institutions demonstrates that the difference between a suggestion and an ultimatum may be no more than a matter of semantics," states the GIEI document.