ICC denies request to investigate Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales

The International Criminal Court denied Bolivia’s request to open an investigation into former leader Evo Morales over crimes against humanity.

In 2020, Bolivia asked the global court to launch an investigation against Morales and his supporters after organizing roadblocks that prevented people from accessing health supplies and services during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the request, the blockades were “systematic and organized attacks on the Bolivian population” that caused “the death of several people and anxiety in the rest of the population.”

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said on Monday that a preliminary probe of the incidents did not meet the court’s criteria of crimes against humanity, reported The Associated Press.

“In accordance with my mandate, my role is not to pass judgment on the political context in which the alleged incidents occurred, but to determine — through an independent, impartial and objective assessment — whether they constitute Rome Statute crimes,” Khan said.

“I have concluded they do not,” he added.

Morales became the country’s first indigenous president in 2006. However, he resigned in 2019 after he was accused of trying to fraudulently get reelected as president.