The ruling got here after Morales, 65, missed a court docket listening to for the second time.
The decide additionally froze his belongings and banned him from leaving Bolivia.
The case accuses Morales of trafficking, with prosecutors claiming the woman’s mother and father used her connection to him for political advantages.
Morales denies the fees, calling them a political assault by President Luis Arce, his former ally turned rival.
In a social media publish, Morales mentioned the accusations aimed to dam him from operating within the 2025 presidential elections.
The case has sparked protests by Morales’s supporters, who declare the allegations are a part of a plot to silence him. Some have blocked roads and threatened to defend him in any respect prices.
The trafficking prices carry a jail sentence of 10 to fifteen years. Morales’s lawyer argues the case is flawed, claiming there isn’t any sufferer. Police have but to implement the arrest warrant.
Morales was Bolivia’s first Indigenous president and dominated for practically 14 years earlier than leaving workplace in 2019 amid allegations of election fraud.
He’s now searching for a political comeback regardless of authorized challenges.
