Bolivian court: Arrest Evo Morales for skipping human trafficking trial
The hearing, scheduled for Monday, was expected to begin the final stage of a case investigating Morales' alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2015, from which a child was allegedly born.
The contempt ruling triggered measures intended to ensure the appearance of the former leader of the ruling Movement for Socialism, or MAS.
Authorities issued an arrest warrant authorizing security forces to detain Morales anywhere in the country and prevent him from leaving Bolivia. The court also ordered freezing his bank accounts and precautionary registration of his assets.
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Prosecutors said they gathered more than 170 pieces of evidence in the case, which were expected to be presented during the trial.
After Morales and his legal team failed to appear in court, the judge applied Bolivian law that prohibits criminal trials in absentia.
"Because the accused failed to appear and did not legally justify his absence, this court issues a contempt ruling," the judge said, according to Bolivian newspaper El Deber.
The trial will remain suspended until Morales is arrested or voluntarily appears before the court.
Morales' defense team argued the case already had been addressed and resolved in 2020, adding the former president should not face prosecution again. His lawyers also claimed "there is no victim" and describe the charges as politically motivated, according to Chilean news outlet Emol.
Attorney Nelson Cox, a member of Morales' legal team, said insufficient security guarantees existed to transport the former president from the Chapare region of Cochabamba. He also described the case as a "political fabrication" intended to block Morales from running for office again, according to Bolivian broadcaster Unitel.
Prosecutors and lawyers representing the alleged victim criticized interruption of the trial.
"It is a mockery of the victims and the judicial system. The evidence is overwhelming and the accused must answer for his actions before the law," the regional prosecutor's office said.
Since October 2024, Morales has remained in the Chapare region, his main political stronghold, where he is protected by thousands of supporters and self-defense groups.
At that time, police were unable to execute an earlier arrest order after Morales supporters blocked roads for 24 days to prevent officers from entering the area where he remains sheltered.
The government of President Rodrigo Paz announced Tuesday it would seek information from U.S. judicial authorities to investigate Morales' alleged links to drug trafficking networks. Bolivian authorities are seeking to participate as a "victim" in ongoing U.S. legal proceedings to gain access to evidence.
One of the most significant cases involves former anti-drug chief Maximiliano Dávila, who was extradited to the United States in December 2024 and sentenced in March to 25 years in prison for conspiracy to import cocaine.
Morales has argued that Dávila's extradition is part of an effort to pressure him into testifying against the former president in exchange for legal benefits.
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte impeached for second time
The vote in the House of Representatives to impeach Duterte was lopsided, with 257 of 290 lawmakers voting in favor. Duterte's impeachment will now face a Senate trial. If Duterte is convicted, she will be immediately removed and barred from holding public office, ending her hopes of a presidential run.
If Duterte is not convicted, she would be protected from being impeached again for two years.
Duterte is a leading candidate for the 2028 election to be the next president of the Philippines.
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The Senate trial could begin as early as Wednesday.
The House voted in favor of impeaching Duterte last year but the procedure never advanced to the Senate because the Supreme Court blocked the impeachment.
Duterte refused to participate in committee hearings over the investigation into the allegations against her. Her attorneys said Monday after the House vote that "the burden now rests on the accusers to substantiate their claims."
The Senate is made up of 24 senators.
The allegations against Duterte center on her gaining wealth after becoming mayor of Davao in 2019, as well as her use of funds as vice president.
"Our vote today is not a declaration of guilt, it is a declaration that when serious allegations are raised against one of the highest officials of the land, Congress cannot look away," said Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr.
The misuse of public funds is not the only controversy to follow Duterte. Last year, she claimed to have arranged for former running mate President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to be killed if she were killed. This preceded the House's 2025 impeachment vote.
Marcos is not eligible to run for reelection in 2028 as he will meet his term limit.
Poland's wanted ex-justice minister flees Hungary for U.S.
Zbigniew Ziobro's exact location in the United States was unknown, but TVN24 reported that the wanted former justice minister was photographed at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
He said he was in the United States in a Sunday interview with Poland's right-wing TV Republika broadcaster, clips of which Ziobro published to his social media accounts.
"I am not afraid of the court; an American court is certainly an independent court," the caption to the clip posted to Facebook read. "If they want to bring an extradition case, go right ahead."
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Ziobro is wanted in Poland, where prosecutors have moved to charge him with 26 offenses alleging that he failed to perform his duties and exceeded his authority as minister of justice and prosecutor general, positions he held from November 2015 until November 2023, according to a statement from the National Prosecutor's Office.
Prosecutors allege that he founded and led an organized criminal group and misappropriated or attempted to misappropriate money from the Justice Fund, a state fund intended to help crime victims.
Prosecutors moved in late October to strip Ziobro of his immunity. On Nov. 7, Poland's parliament agreed to lift that immunity, clearing the way for prosecutors to seek his detention and formally charge him.
But Ziobro was already in Hungary. A day before prosecutors moved to charge him, Ziobro said he had been "invited" to Budapest to show a film critical of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
In January, Ziobro announced online that he had accepted asylum granted to him by Hungary, claiming he's been a target of "Tusk's personal vendetta" and a victim of political persecution.
In April, opposition leader Peter Magyar and his pro-Europe center-right Tisza party defeated Hungary's longtime authoritarian-leaning prime minister, Viktor Orban.
Magyar vowed during his campaign that, if elected prime minister, he would extradite Ziobro, and he was sworn in on Saturday.
Following the news that Ziobro was no longer in Hungary, Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Zurek said his office would contact both the United States and Hungary "with questions" concerning the legality of Ziobro's departure from Hungary and entry into the United States, stating they had invalidated his travel documents, including his diplomatic passport.
"We count on your cooperation," Zurek said in a statement.
Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported that Ziobro received a visa that was personally approved by U.S. President Donald Trump, who is a close ally of Orban.
UPI has contacted the U.S. Embassy in Budapest for comment and confirmation.
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