The president of Bolivia eliminated the Ministry of Justice after dismissing Freddy Vidovic

Bolivia’s President, Rodrigo Paz, closed the Ministry of Justice this Thursday, amidst the political storm unleashed by the dismissal of its head, Freddy Vidovic, due to a criminal conviction that did not appear in the official records and that the Government considers incompatible with the position. The decision, announced at a press conference in La Paz, represents the president’s first major institutional move, just days after taking office. Hours earlier, Paz had signed the decree removing Vidovic, appointed minister on November 9, just one day after the new Government took office. The lawyer was only in the position for about a dozen days, until the Ministry of Government and the Supreme Court of Justice confirmed that he had an enforceable sentence of three years in prison, handed down in 2015, which by law disqualifies him from holding public office.

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The sentence against Vidovic is linked to the case of Martín Belaunde Lossio, a Peruvian businessman and former advisor to former President Ollanta Humala, investigated for corruption in his country. During the period that Belaunde was detained in Bolivia, awaiting his extradition to Lima, Vidovic acted as one of his lawyers and was prosecuted for crimes such as aiding evasion and active bribery.