Domingo Alcibia, a member of President Evo Morales’ governing MAS bloc, was arrested on Tuesday, Jan. 22nd but only charged with abuse of power. His arrest came after security cameras caught him having what appears to be non-consensual sex with an extremely inebriated and possibly unconscious woman was broadcast on local television and posted to YouTube last week.
The video was taken by a security camera after a Christmas party on Dec. 20th. It shows the woman, who has not been identified by name, being brought into the room in the provincial legislature by others, stumbling and falling. She is placed in a chair, apparently unconscious. Alcibia, drunk, enters the room, turns off the lights, lowering the already blurry video quality. He places the woman on the floor, unfastens his belt and appears to have sex with her.
The lights come back on a few minutes later and Alcibia jumps off the woman. He pulls up his pants and puts her back in the chair, and others later enter the room to check on her.
See video here:
Alcibia had fled after the video was made public and said he didn’t remember anything because he was drunk but denied that he had sexually assaulted the woman.
He was arrested in a small town outside of Sucre, the capital of Chuquisaca province. Feminists protestors are demanding the prosecutor’s office charge the lawmaker with rape.
Alcibia is not being prosecuted for sexual assault, according to Fernando Pacheco, the prosecutor in charge of the case.
President Morales has deemed the behavior of Alcibia and another regional lawmaker who is seen at a different moment in the video making advances on another woman as ‘‘unacceptable’’ That lawmaker, Javier Humala, is also being charged with abuse of power, said Pacheco.
If convicted, each faces up to eight years in prison. Both men, ethnic Quechuas, were also expelled from MAS.
The U.N. and Bolivia’s public ombudsman’s office have both called for a rapid and impartial investigation of the case.
