Senior Bolivian magistrate dies after gun attack in taxi

A senior Bolivian judge was fatally shot by hitmen while riding in a taxi in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, police said on Friday.

The shooting of Victor Hugo Claure, the most senior judge on Bolivia’s highest agro-environmental court, took place Thursday night, and is under investigation.

“Yesterday a regrettable incident occurred: the murder of a magistrate,” Santa Cruz police commander David Gomez told a news conference.

One of two individuals riding a motorcycle had fired at the vehicle in which the judge was traveling, Gomez said.

Claure died before reaching hospital, and the public prosecutor’s office said his body bore four gunshot wounds.

The United Nations in Bolivia condemned the killing and called for a “prompt and thorough investigation.”

“It is imperative that all those responsible for this crime be identified and punished,” it said in a statement.

The motive remains under investigation, but Gomez said a “land dispute” may have prompted the attack.

High-ranking judicial authorities including Claure had met in Santa Cruz on Thursday, police said.

Authorities have reinforced security for 13 other senior magistrates in the wake of the attack.

Public prosecutor Alberto Zeballos said officials had footage of the incident as well as statements from witnesses who were riding in the taxi with Claure.

In a statement, Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz voiced solidarity with Claure’s family and urged the public not to speculate.

AFP

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