Nadia Beller's statement suspended: witness protection requested in Cerimedo case
The hearing scheduled for this Wednesday in Santa Cruz was cancelled following a protected witness request. The prosecutor will reschedule the statement.
Beller requests witness protection and blocks her statement in investigation against Cerimedo
Nadia Beller's statement scheduled for this Wednesday at her residence in Santa Cruz was suspended after her lawyer submitted a formal request for the activist to give evidence under the protected witness regime, according to El Deber.
Prosecutor Néstor Torres arrived with police investigators at the home where Beller is recovering following her medical discharge, but left without taking the statement. "For now we can only say that the statement has been suspended due to force majeure and, consequently, the prosecutor in La Paz will reschedule the statement," Torres explained as he left the premises.
The suspension was prompted by a memorandum that Beller's lawyer, Jerjes Justiniano, submitted to the Public Ministry requesting that his client give evidence as a protected witness. Justiniano argued that the content of what Beller intends to provide is of a sensitive nature and that her safety could be at risk if she gives evidence under ordinary conditions. The protected witness procedure includes measures to preserve the identity, address and other personal data of those providing relevant information to an investigation.
By the time this report went to press, no new date for the hearing had been set.
Attack and case background
Beller was subjected to an armed attack on 17 August in the vicinity of a hotel in Santa Cruz. Two individuals who, according to investigations, posed as delivery workers arrived on a motorcycle and shot her, striking her with three bullets. She remained hospitalised in a private clinic until her medical discharge.
Following the attack, Beller publicly identified her former partner, Argentine political advisor Fernando Cerimedo, as responsible for the incident, and filed a series of complaints against him. Based on those complaints, investigations were opened into domestic violence, attempted femicide and money laundering.
Current status of investigations
Beller has already given a statement in the framework of the investigation into domestic and family violence, opened ex officio by the Public Ministry. Her defence is now waiting for the Public Ministry to define Cerimedo's legal situation within that process.
The activist was also summoned as a witness in the money laundering investigation being conducted against the former advisor. Beller announced that she would cooperate with the Public Ministry and would provide evidence linked to the complaints filed against Cerimedo, but conditioned that cooperation on acceptance of her request for witness protection.
Cerimedo is being held in preventive detention at Palmasola prison as part of proceedings for attempted femicide against Beller, while investigations advance on various fronts.
Source: El Deber