Bolivia: General who led failed coup gets pretrial detention

Zuniga led the short-lived coup attempt earlier this week

General Juan Jose Zuniga, who led a failed coup attempt in La Paz earlier this week, will be held in "preventive detention" for six months, a top prosecutor said on Friday.

The former army general was handed a terrorism charge, which carries 15-20 years in prison, as well as a charge for an armed uprising, the Reuters news agency cited state prosecutor Cesar Siles as saying.

What do we know about Zuniga's detention?

Siles said that the Attorney General's Office requested pretrial detention for six months.

Others, including the Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry, supported the request "due to the importance and seriousness of the events that occurred."

"This preventive detention that the judge is ordering will undoubtedly set a precedent and a good signal so that this investigation can continue to advance," Siles added.

Two other Bolivian military officers will also be held under pretrial detention for six months, the French AFP news agency cited Siles as saying.

What we know about the coup attempt

Authorities in Bolivia put down a short-lived coup attempt on Wednesday that saw armored vehicles ramming the gates of the presidential palace.

Bolivian authorities arrested the outgoing general commander of the army, Zuniga, who mobilized troops to enter the presidential palace.

Zuniga has said he was following an order from President Luis Arce, who has denied any involvement or prior knowledge of Zuniga's operation.

President Arce named a new army commander while what mounted to be an attempted coup was underway. The new general immediately ordered the troops to stand down. The ordeal was over in about 3 hours.

After the dramatic day, the government arrested at least 17 people in connection with the coup attempt.

Among those arrested were retired military personnel as well as civilians.

rmt/rm (AFP, Reuters)