In a dramatic turn for Bolivian politics, the country’s highest court has thrown out key criminal charges against former interim President Jeanine Áñez and ordered the contentious case to restart under a special process reserved for former heads of state. The late-night decision on August 29, 2025, comes as Bolivia experiences a seismic political shift, with opposition parties securing a congressional majority for the first time in nearly two decades and the nation bracing for a pivotal presidential runoff this October.
The ruling marks a significant legal victory for Áñez, who has spent almost four-and-a-half years behind bars on a host of charges stemming from the 2019 ouster of leftist President Evo Morales. According to the Associated Press, the annulled case concerns the fatal shootings of 22 protesters in the districts of Sacaba and Senkata during Áñez’s tumultuous tenure following Morales’ disputed reelection and subsequent resignation under military pressure. The court’s order means that any trial for these alleged crimes must now be approved by a two-thirds congressional majority before proceeding to the Supreme Court—a process that could stall indefinitely, given the current political makeup.
Áñez’s lawyers have long argued that the ordinary courts lacked jurisdiction to try her for actions taken as president, insisting that only a special congressional process is appropriate for former heads of state. Her defense team hopes this latest development will pave the way for a similar review of her main conviction—a 10-year sentence handed down in 2022 for terrorism and sedition related to her assumption of power in 2019. “This sentence is null and void, because it was handed down by authorities whose competence did not come from the law,” Áñez’s attorney, Luis Guillén, told the Associated Press. He added, “Her release will take time, but the paths that have opened in recent days show we are moving toward recovering her freedom.”
The court’s move follows weeks of mounting political change. In the general elections earlier this month, right-wing and centrist opposition parties sympathetic to Áñez wrested control of Congress from Morales’ Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), ending almost 20 years of leftist dominance. The result: the opposition could now block any attempt to put Áñez on trial, raising both hopes and fears about the future direction of Bolivian justice. Critics warn that the system remains vulnerable to political manipulation, with concerns that the judiciary is both too partisan and too lenient on former leaders when their allies hold sway in Congress.
The timing of the court’s decision also coincided with another high-profile release: Luis Fernando Camacho, the governor of Santa Cruz and a prominent opposition leader, walked free from the notorious Chonchocoro maximum security prison after nearly three years in pretrial detention. As reported by News.Az and confirmed by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), Camacho was greeted by jubilant crowds waving green and white flags as he returned to his home province. “It has been an honour to be imprisoned for almost three years, for the struggle of my people and for democracy,” Camacho declared to supporters in Santa Cruz’s main square.
Camacho’s release was not unconditional. He remains under house arrest, subject to a travel ban, but is permitted to resume his official duties as governor under generous work-release privileges. The HRF, which advocated for Camacho’s case before the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD), hailed the decision as a major step forward. “While his release is currently not unconditional and his freedom will continue to be restricted under partial house arrest in Santa Cruz, the fact that he will no longer be punished in inhuman and degrading conditions at 4,000 meters above sea level ... is an immense source of relief and hope for his family and the people of Santa Cruz,” said Javier El-Hage, HRF’s Chief Legal and Policy Officer.
Camacho’s arrest in December 2022 was linked to his leadership in the 2019 protests that, following allegations of electoral fraud by the Organization of American States, led to Morales’ resignation. The HRF submitted his case to the UNWGAD in early 2023, and by March 2025, the group declared his detention arbitrary under international law, calling for his immediate release. After a series of hearings in late August, Bolivian courts ordered Camacho’s conditional release on August 26 and 27, 2025, for separate so-called “terrorism” cases, both related to protest movements in 2019 and 2022.
The Supreme Court also ordered reviews of pretrial detentions for other opposition figures, including Marco Antonio Pumari, Camacho’s former running mate and a key figure in the 2019 protests. Pumari was released under similar house arrest conditions after nearly four years in detention, with the court set to review additional charges against him in coming days. “I’m not leaving defeated, but victorious,” Pumari said through tears upon his release, according to the Associated Press.
These legal reversals are widely seen as a reflection of the changing political winds in Bolivia. For nearly two decades, critics say, the MAS party eroded judicial independence and used the courts to persecute opposition leaders. HRF’s senior policy officer for the Americas, Alvaro Piaggio, put it bluntly: “For nearly 20 years, the MAS party gradually and severely undermined the independence of institutions, particularly the judiciary, and persecuted the political opposition and silenced dissent. However, the Bolivian people made their voices heard at the polls earlier this month and roundly rejected the authoritarianism and economic mismanagement of the regime, opening the door to a peaceful reestablishment of the democratic order in the country.”
Yet, the road ahead remains uncertain. Even as Áñez, Camacho, and Pumari taste freedom, the fate of their political adversaries hangs in the balance. Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, remains in hiding in the Chapare region, evading an arrest warrant on statutory rape charges after being barred from running in this year’s election due to term limits. When asked about Morales’ future, Camacho offered a measured response: “We are not going to retaliate against him,” he said, but added, “I believe that Evo Morales will soon be entering Chonchocoro.”
The international community is watching closely. The HRF, which played a key role in securing Camacho’s release, called for ongoing vigilance from civil society and democratic governments to ensure Bolivia’s transition does not backslide. “Peaceful and competitive elections, as well as the reparation of injustices committed by a regime-controlled judiciary, are meaningful steps toward the reconstruction of democratic institutions in Bolivia, but the country has a long way to go to fully restore democratic governance,” Piaggio noted.
With the presidential runoff looming and the opposition ascendant, Bolivia stands at a crossroads. The recent releases and court rulings signal a possible break from the past, but whether the country can forge a more independent judiciary and a truly democratic future remains to be seen. For now, the jubilant scenes in Santa Cruz and the halls of Congress reflect a nation eager for change—and wary of repeating old mistakes.