Francisco Villanueva - Bolivia

April 05

Fancisco Javier Villanueva de Martino, a Spanish citizen resident in Bolivia for 4 years, was forcibly detained by plainclothes policemen in 2004 by order of the local Prosecutor, who gave no reason for the arrest.

For several hours Francisco's whereabouts were unknown. Medical evidence shows that he was tortured: severe beatings, submersion in water, asphyxia, electric shocks to the genitals and death threats. An identification parade was organised; the other men in the parade looked nothing like Francisco so he stood out and was positively identified. Three days later he was charged with the murder of a prosecutor.

Francisco had been working in Bolivia for 4 years. He became friends with a civil servant in the Bolivian Ministry of the Interior who was imprisoned for alleged political reasons. He escaped from prison and later became the prime suspect in the murder of the prosecutor. This led to rumours involving Francisco in the crime.

Whilst on a trip to Miami in March 2004, Francisco heard about these rumours and visited the Spanish and Bolivian Consulates to check whether there was any truth to them. He was told that he was not under suspicion, so returned to Bolivia.

Francisco was video taped confessing to the murder; however he later stated that he had a gun to his head and was told what to say. This video was later shown on national TV in violation of the presumption of innocence. A defence lawyer was called to sign as witness to the statements, but refused on the grounds that he had not been present. Nevertheless, the signed statements appeared in court.

Two Brazilian prosecution witnesses gave evidence that they had heard that Francisco had been at the scene of the crime. Defence witnesses were harassed and intimidated by the police and prosecutor in charge. Nevertheless, 7 witnesses were able to say that Francisco was not at the crime scene at the time of the murder. His credit card usage and telephone calls made from his mobile telephone support this.

Fair Trial Issues

1. Francisco was tortured into ‘confessing’ to a crime he did not commit.
2. He was denied access to a lawyer throughout police interrogations.
3. It will be almost impossible for him to receive a fair trial.

The case is still at the investigation stage with an anticipated trial date of 3 May 2005.

There has so far been considerable support from the institutions of the European Union and the British consulate.