Bolivian prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into former President Evo Morales and former Vice President Álvaro García Linera over alleged killings, torture and other abuses linked to a 2009 police raid at a Santa Cruz hotel.
Acting Attorney General José Armando Urioste notified the Supreme Court on Oct. 12 that prosecutors would gather evidence after accepting an accusation filed by opposition lawmakers, according to Bolivian reports. The complaint alleges murder, abuse and torture, and unlawful detention; the inquiry is an initial step toward a possible special trial for alleged crimes committed while the men were in office, not a finding of guilt. The case centers on an April 16, 2009, raid at Hotel Las Américas, where police killed Eduardo Rózsa Flores, Michael Dwyer and Arpád Magyarosi.
Morales’ government said the men belonged to a terrorist and separatist group, while two survivors later alleged they were tortured in custody. In 2024, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights referred a case concerning the raid and related detentions to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. A special trial would require approval by two-thirds of Bolivia’s Legislative Assembly, according to UPI.