LA PAZ: Three suspected leaders of a failed coup against Bolivian President Luis Arce were remanded in custody on Friday for six months, the country’s top prosecutor said.
Former army chief Juan Jose Zuniga, former head of navy Juan Arnez and Alejandro Irahola, former head of the army’s mechanized brigade, will be held in a high-security prison not far from the capital La Paz.
“This pre-trial detention ordered by the judge will undoubtedly set a precedent, and is a good signal for the investigation to move forward,” said Attorney General Cesar Siles.
The three officers face charges of engaging in an armed uprising and terrorism and face up to 20 years in prison, Siles said on state television.
A total of 21 active, retired and civilian military personnel were arrested in connection with Wednesday’s attempted coup, in which troops and tanks were deployed in the heart of the capital, where they tried to break down a door of the presidential palace.
Zuniga said his goal was to “restructure democracy” in Bolivia. He was soon captured and the troops pulled back.
In an unusual twist, Zuniga claimed he was following Arce’s orders and that the president had hoped for the coup to trigger a crackdown that would boost his popularity.
Arce denied the allegations. “How could one order or plan a coup on one’s self?” he told reporters.
Tensions in the Andean nation have been rising in recent weeks over surging prices, shortages of dollars and fuel, and a feud between Arce and powerful former president Evo Morales ahead of the 2025 election.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced Thursday that he would soon visit his “friend” Arce to support him following the unrest.
Russia “strongly” condemned the attempted military coup, its foreign ministry said Thursday, warning against “destructive foreign interference” in the South American country.
UN chief Antonio Guterres “welcomes the peaceful resolution of the situation,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, having earlier expressed alarm over the abortive coup.
Condemnations of the coup bid also poured in from Madrid, Washington and across Latin America.
Bolivia, which has a long history of military coups, has in recent weeks been rocked by an economic crisis due to a drop in natural gas production, its main source of foreign currency until 2023.
The country has had to reduce fuel imports, and there is a shortage of dollars, which has triggered protests by powerful unions of merchants and freight transporters.
Gustavo Flores-Macias, a professor of government at Cornell University in New York state, said the failed coup was “a symptom of a significant and broad discontent” in the country.
For now, “we must carefully evaluate how widespread the discontent is within the armed forces,” he said, adding that Arce’s government was facing “a critical moment of weakness.”
Bolivia is also deeply polarized after years of political instability, and the ruling Movement Towards Socialism party is riven by internal conflict between supporters of Arce and his former mentor Morales.
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Suspected leaders of failed Bolivian coup remanded in custody
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Suspected leaders of failed Bolivian coup remanded in custody
- A total of 21 active, retired and civilian military personnel arrested in connection with attempted coup
- Former army chief Juan Jose Zuniga claims he was following Bolivian President Luis Arce orders to boost his popularity
Bangladesh police say student leader’s killers fled to India
DHAKA: Bangladesh police on Sunday said the alleged killers of popular student leader Sharif Osman Hadi had fled to India, in comments likely to further strain relations with its neighbor.
Hadi, a vocal India critic who took part in last year’s mass uprising, was shot by masked assailants in Dhaka earlier this month and later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Singapore.
His death set off violent protests with angry mobs torching several buildings, including two major newspapers deemed to favor India as well as a prominent cultural institution.
With protests being held across the country almost daily, pressure has been growing on Bangladesh’s interim government to arrest the killers of Hadi, who was set to contest general elections in February next year.
“The killing was premeditated. Those behind it have been identified,” SN Nazrul Islam, a senior Dhaka Metropolitan Police officer, said at a news conference.
Suspects Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh left Bangladesh through the Haluaghat border with India shortly after attacking Hadi on December 12, Islam said.
They were received at the border by two Indian citizens, who escorted them into the northeastern state of Meghalaya before handing them over to two accomplices.
Bangladeshi investigators were in contact with their Indian counterparts who had arrested the two suspected accomplices, Islam said.
“We are communicating with Meghalaya police, who have confirmed the arrest of two Indian nationals,” he added.
Two senior Meghalaya police officers however did not comment when contacted by AFP.
The Indian foreign ministry had earlier said it rejects “false narratives” about New Delhi’s involvement in Hadi’s killing.
Ties between the neighbors have deteriorated since ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the pro-democracy uprising and sought refuge in India.
India says it is still considering Dhaka’s requests to extradite Hasina, who was sentenced to death in absentia for orchestrating a deadly crackdown on the uprising.
The lynching of a Hindu garment worker by a mob on December 18 has also hit ties.
Amid the deteriorating security situation in the Muslim-majority country, Khuda Baksh Chowdhury, special assistant to interim leader Muhammad Yunus overseeing the home department, stepped down on Wednesday.
Hadi, a vocal India critic who took part in last year’s mass uprising, was shot by masked assailants in Dhaka earlier this month and later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Singapore.
His death set off violent protests with angry mobs torching several buildings, including two major newspapers deemed to favor India as well as a prominent cultural institution.
With protests being held across the country almost daily, pressure has been growing on Bangladesh’s interim government to arrest the killers of Hadi, who was set to contest general elections in February next year.
“The killing was premeditated. Those behind it have been identified,” SN Nazrul Islam, a senior Dhaka Metropolitan Police officer, said at a news conference.
Suspects Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh left Bangladesh through the Haluaghat border with India shortly after attacking Hadi on December 12, Islam said.
They were received at the border by two Indian citizens, who escorted them into the northeastern state of Meghalaya before handing them over to two accomplices.
Bangladeshi investigators were in contact with their Indian counterparts who had arrested the two suspected accomplices, Islam said.
“We are communicating with Meghalaya police, who have confirmed the arrest of two Indian nationals,” he added.
Two senior Meghalaya police officers however did not comment when contacted by AFP.
The Indian foreign ministry had earlier said it rejects “false narratives” about New Delhi’s involvement in Hadi’s killing.
Ties between the neighbors have deteriorated since ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the pro-democracy uprising and sought refuge in India.
India says it is still considering Dhaka’s requests to extradite Hasina, who was sentenced to death in absentia for orchestrating a deadly crackdown on the uprising.
The lynching of a Hindu garment worker by a mob on December 18 has also hit ties.
Amid the deteriorating security situation in the Muslim-majority country, Khuda Baksh Chowdhury, special assistant to interim leader Muhammad Yunus overseeing the home department, stepped down on Wednesday.
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