Bolivian Police Captain arrested for attempted femicide in Cochabamba
Captain Christian U. was detained following the reclassification of a psychological violence case to attempted femicide. The Public Ministry will request his preventive detention.
Police captain charged with threatening his partner with a firearm
The legal situation of Bolivian Police Captain Christian U. worsened this Friday when the Public Ministry reclassified proceedings against him: from psychological violence to attempted femicide. According to El Deber, the prosecution ordered his formal charging and arrest.
The uniformed officer was captured around 08:30 and is being held in police cells pending his hearing on precautionary measures. At that hearing, the Public Ministry will request his preventive detention in a penitentiary.
Cochabamba's departmental prosecutor, Osvaldo Tejerina, explained that the decision was adopted after analysing statements and other evidence incorporated into the investigation, including testimony from the victim's father and information published in the media. "Under the application of conventionality and various international agreements, given that we are in a provisional qualification phase, a reclassification occurs because we cannot ignore the images circulating in the media," Tejerina stated.
Provisionally, the Public Ministry established that the accused would have violated existing protective measures and threatened the woman using a firearm.
Defence denies accusations
Adolfo Paniagua, the captain's lawyer, rejected the charges and asserted that his client never assaulted or threatened his wife. "The captain never assaulted her, never pointed his service weapon at her," he stated.
Paniagua also questioned the motives behind the accusation, according to his account, and argued that there would be pressure on the officer to yield an apartment. "He is only being pursued, as a form of pressure regarding a prison matter and, secondly, regarding his dismissal, so that he would agree to hand over an apartment that does not even correspond to him," he stated.
The lawyer acknowledged that four complaints have been filed against his client for domestic violence, but emphasised that none resulted in conviction. "My client is not guilty of violence, no facts have ever been proven against him, he has never been sentenced," he stated.
Feminist collective demands protection for victim
While the captain remained in police custody, members of the Women of Fire collective and relatives of the complainant appeared before the Special Force for the Fight Against Violence (Felcv) to demand justice and protective measures.
The organisation also reported that the victim faces alleged constant harassment on social media from people linked to the accused.
"Efforts were made to downplay the domestic violence complaint (...) fortunately the Public Ministry has changed this classification to attempted femicide and we hope that tomorrow the victim can finally receive some protection," stated a representative of the collective.
Source: El Deber