Prada denies being a fugitive in case 26J and submits memorandum to the Public Prosecutor's Office in La Paz
Former minister María Nela Prada asserts she was not notified in the case of the failed coup on 26J and reaffirms that she will not flee the country.
Prada appears in La Paz and refutes accusations of fleeing in case 26J
Former Minister of the Presidency María Nela Prada stated on Wednesday that she had not received any notification from the Public Prosecutor's Office to provide a statement in the investigation into the events of 26 June 2024, known as case 26J or military uprising. According to El Deber, Prada characterised as "lies" the statements made by former commander Juan José Zúñiga and lawyer Eduardo León, who alleged that she was not found at her residence and that she would be evading justice.
"Once I learned of the statements made by these gentlemen, I immediately, through lawyer Fernando Rivadeneira, submitted a memorandum indicating that I was never notified at my residence in Santa Cruz nor through digital citizenship," Prada stated to the media.
In response to the accusations against her, the former official decided to travel to the Government seat in La Paz to present a second memorandum in which she declares herself willing to provide her testimony. "I am here ready to give my statement if I am to be called as a witness, although they still have not notified me. They did not notify me today, nor have they summoned me. I was waiting and nothing happened," she said.
Prada reaffirmed that the principal accused in this case is Zúñiga, charged with "the failed coup, the crime of armed uprising, for having attempted a breach of constitutional order". She concluded her statements with a direct message: "I am not a fugitive, nor missing, nor a coward. Here I am, and here I will be before justice, looking it straight in the eye".
On Tuesday morning, former president Luis Arce and former deputy minister Jhonny Aguilera appeared before the Sixth Criminal Sentencing Court of La Paz, after which both left the judicial building hours later. In contrast, former minister of government Eduardo Del Castillo failed to appear to testify; he is currently evading police authorities in connection with the Marset case, and in his absence a warrant for his arrest was issued.
Source: El Deber