International
Six months after arrest, no trial date for Bolivian ex-president
AFP
Six months after being arrested on coup charges by a Bolivian government allied to her political rival Evo Morales, ex-president Jeanine Anez is still awaiting a trial date.
The 54-year-old, who claims she is the victim of “political persecution,” attempted suicide in a jail in La Paz last month while suffering from “severe depression” due to her prolonged pre-trial detention, according to her daughter, Carolina Ribera.
Last month, a Bolivian court added another six months to Anez’s custody, until March 2022, meaning she could spend a year in jail without seeing the inside of a court.
“Evo Morales… is holding her to spread a message of fear to all opposition leaders and all Bolivians who think differently,” Ribera told AFP last week.
The conservative Anez had come to power in November 2019 after Morales and senior allies in his Movement for Socialism (MAS) resigned following weeks of protest over his controversial re-election to an unconstitutional fourth term.
As Morales fled into exile after 14 years in power, Anez was the most senior parliamentarian left and was sworn in by congress as interim president, despite the lack of a quorum, with MAS legislators boycotting the session.
Morales and his allies claimed they had been the victims of a right-wing coup.
Under Anez’s administration, Bolivia held elections in October 2020 in which Morales protege Luis Arce stormed to a landslide victory and she handed over the reins of power.
Then in March this year, Anez was arrested and charged with leading a coup, terrorism, sedition, conspiracy and failure to perform official duties.
– ‘Servile’ justice –
The lawyer and former television presenter was more recently also charged with “genocide” over protesters’ deaths during violence between supporters and opponents of Morales — as well as between protesters and the security forces — that left 37 people dead in November 2019.
The accusation relates to two incidents in which 22 people died just days after she became president in what a report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights described as “massacres.”
The same report questioned the independence of the South American country’s justice system and cautioned against the “arbitrary use” of “ambiguous” crimes on the statute book, including some of those leveled against Anez.
Her detention has elicited widespread international condemnation and Anez’s family has repeatedly asked the government to free her, or at least transfer her to a hospital for treatment for hypertension and other health conditions.
“In Bolivia, justice is completely manipulated and servile to the government,” said her daughter, Ribera.
Bolivia’s opposition has decried the lack of separation of powers in the country, saying the courts, electoral body and public prosecutor’s office are all loyal to Arce.
International
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
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