Justice system rejects house arrest for Luis Arce; will remain imprisoned in San Pedro
A Bolivian judge upheld the preventive detention of former president Luis Arce in San Pedro prison, despite his oncological treatment in La Paz.
Judge keeps Arce in San Pedro and denies house arrest
Bolivia's justice system rejected on Tuesday a request by former president Luis Arce's defence team seeking house arrest on health grounds, according to bolivia.com. Judge Román Castro ruled, in a virtual hearing, that Arce remain in preventive detention in San Pedro prison.
Arce is currently admitted to Arco Iris Hospital in La Paz, where he was transferred from San Pedro this month to receive specialised medical care. A multidisciplinary team including oncologists evaluated him following health complications he reportedly suffered during his imprisonment.
Castro ordered the Prison Authority to exhaust available mechanisms within the jail to provide care to the former president when he requires medical assistance. The judge clarified that, should such care prove insufficient, he should be notified so that Arce can be transferred to a hospital centre in order to guarantee his rights.
Nevertheless, the magistrate determined that the former president did not support with "suitable" documentation the existence of risks to his health if he remained imprisoned. Castro also ruled that a specialised doctor should be the one to authorise Arce's discharge, and requested that this information be communicated to him before the former president returns to prison.
Arce has been imprisoned since December 2025. The Public Prosecutor's Office accuses him of having authorised, in his capacity as Minister of Economy during Evo Morales' government, the transfer of public funds to private accounts of agricultural leaders to finance projects that proved unsuccessful.
The former president is also facing proceedings for alleged money laundering together with his eldest son, Marcelo Arce Mosqueira. The latter was recently granted house arrest in Santa Cruz within the framework of the same case.
Source: Google News BO — Crime