Bolivia's ex-President Luis Arce seeks release, lawyer demands court reply

Lawyer Fernando Rivadeneira urged Supreme Court President Romer Saucedo to issue a formal response to a June 26 letter in which former president Luis Arce labels himself a “political prisoner” and questions judicial independence. Rivadeneira said the court’s reply is required because the letter was submitted through official channels.

Arce, detained preventively since December 2025 on accusations of irregularities linked to the Indigenous Fund while serving as economy minister, filed a new legal petition requesting cessation of his detention. The petition cites his natural, social and family ties, an ongoing oncological illness requiring regular medical care, and the disproportionate length of his incarceration. His preventive detention, originally set for five months, was recently extended by another five months. The case remains under investigation for alleged misappropriation of funds to private accounts of social organization leaders.