Bolivia's Public Prosecutor accuses Evo Morales over death of three Europeans in Santa Cruz in 2009
Attorney General José Armando Urioste has opened a formal investigation against Morales and his former vice-president García Linera for the murder of three European citizens 17 years ago.
Formal investigation against Morales and García Linera for homicide in Santa Cruz hotel
Bolivia's attorney general, José Armando Urioste, announced on Monday the beginning of the phase of gathering evidence and formal accusation against former president Evo Morales Ayma and former vice-president Álvaro Marcelo García Linera, according to ladiaria.com.uy. The charge links them to the murder and torture of three European citizens that occurred in 2009.
The case dates back to 16 April of that year, when police officers stormed the Las Américas hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and killed Eduardo Rózsa Flores—of Bolivian-Hungarian nationality—Romanian Arpad Magyarosi, and Irishman Michael Dwyer. In the same operation, Bolivian-Croatian citizen Mario Tadic and Hungarian Elöd Tóásó were detained; both were survivors who subsequently reported having been tortured.
The Morales government, which was in power at that time, maintained that Rózsa Flores headed a separatist movement financed by the right-wing economic elite of Santa Cruz. Morales himself told the press, during an official visit to Venezuela, that he had ordered the detention of the foreign nationals, whom he described as "mercenaries".
In a letter addressed to the Supreme Court of Justice, Urioste indicated that the authorities were gathering evidence against Morales and García Linera "for the alleged commission of the crimes of murder, abuse, torture and illegal detention". The investigation was announced just one week after Urioste assumed office, following the controversial removal of former prosecutor Roger Mariaca.
According to AFP, the legal action stems from a complaint filed by right-wing legislators Tomasa Yarhui and Rodrigo Antonio, members of the Libre party led by former president Jorge Tuto Quiroga. Both accused Morales and García Linera of murder, outrage, torture and deprivation of liberty.
The families of the victims and the survivors brought the case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which concluded in 2021 that the Bolivian government had violated human rights. None of those now under investigation have commented on the most recent accusation.
Morales, president of Bolivia between January 2006 and November 2019, is currently beyond the reach of police forces, sheltering in the Trópico de Cochabamba. Two arrest warrants are in force against him: one related to his alleged participation in the mass protests that paralysed the country for 53 days in early 2024, and another that accuses him of human trafficking of a minor with whom, according to the authorities, he fathered a daughter. Morales rejects both accusations and characterises them as political persecution.
Source: Google News BO — Crime