Cerimedo spends 20 days in Palmasola; transfer to Chonchocoro pending administrative procedures
A court rejected a defence motion to halt the transfer of the Argentine to La Paz. The official order from the Penitentiary System and police coordination remain outstanding.
Cerimedo in Palmasola: transfer to Chonchocoro advances amid administrative obstacles
Fernando Cerimedo, former adviser to the Presidency of Bolivia of Argentine nationality, has spent 20 days in pre-trial detention at Palmasola prison in Santa Cruz, according to El Deber. His transfer to Chonchocoro prison in La Paz, ordered by the judiciary as part of one of the proceedings opened against him, remains unexecuted.
Cerimedo was apprehended on 18 August, identified as the alleged intellectual author of the attack on Nadia Beller, former congressional candidate for the MAS, who received three gunshot wounds at a hotel located on the fifth ring and Isuto canal in Santa Cruz. On 21 August, cautelar judge Wilson Espada ordered his pre-trial detention for 180 days in Palmasola, within the framework of the attempted femicide case.
Subsequently, the Public Prosecutor's Office initiated a second investigation against Cerimedo for money laundering and enrichment with detriment to the State. Within that case, a La Paz judge ordered his pre-trial detention for 180 days in Chonchocoro, a decision confirmed by a criminal court that ordered his transfer from Santa Cruz.
Cerimedo's defence filed a writ of liberty against judges and penitentiary authorities to prevent the transfer, arguing that taking him to Chonchocoro would put at risk his health, physical integrity and life. They also requested a medical evaluation. On Friday, a Santa Cruz court comprising judges Raúl Lizarazu, Carlos René Roca and Lily Salazar rejected the action and ordered the transfer to Chonchocoro to be executed.
Despite that ruling, Palmasola prison authorities indicated that they have not yet received an official instruction to execute the transfer. The General Directorate of the Penitentiary System must issue the corresponding order and coordinate with the Police the assignment of personnel who will escort Cerimedo during his transfer to La Paz, planned by air.
Still pending are the definition of the day and time of the operation, the purchase of tickets for the police escort, and security measures for the departure from Palmasola and arrival in La Paz.
In the course of these procedures, Cerimedo suffered a health crisis whilst in custody in Palmasola. The penitentiary administration reported that he received medical attention within the facility and that he was stable and out of danger.
The former presidential adviser faces a total of four investigative proceedings: for attempted femicide, money laundering, domestic or family violence, and a case initiated in Beni for alleged protection of drug trafficking. For the time being he remains in Palmasola whilst penitentiary authorities complete the necessary procedures to execute the judicial order.
Source: El Deber