Afp Cochabamba (Bolivia)

Cochabamba (Bolivia)

Updated Friday, March 29, 2024-09:51

The Bolivian justice system issued house arrest on Thursday against the

Spanish priests Marcos Recolons and Ramón Alaix, aged 81 and 83

, while they are tried for the alleged cover-up of the sexual abuse of minors

committed 40 years ago by the late Spanish Jesuit Alfonso Pedrajas

.

"The precautionary measures imposed are the prohibition of leaving the country and the request for

house arrest

in the places where these two people live," the director of the Special Prosecutor's Office for Gender and Juvenile Crimes, Daniela Cáceres, said in a video. .

The hearing took place in a reserved manner in the city of

Cochabamba

, central Bolivia. "The precautionary judge determined house arrest, with roots due to the age of the accused, and logically it has to do with crimes that have been going on for more than 30 years," said the lawyer for the relatives and victims, Nelson Cox.

The procedure was carried out amid the

protest of about 30 people

who gathered in front of the judicial headquarters, with signs that read "covering up makes you as guilty as a rapist."

Given their advanced age and fragile health conditions, Recolons and Alaix followed the hearing virtually from the Jesuit residence in Cochabamba.

However, "

there is no risk or possibility of escape

and/or obstruction of justice on the part of the priests Alaix and Recolons, since they are two elderly adults, both over 80 years old, with fragile health and a long history of service to the country and the Catholic Church," the Society of Jesus said in a statement.

The religious

were brought to trial by 18 former students of the Juan XXIII school

, where the also Spanish priest Pedrajas had his main activity as a teacher and spiritual guide. Recolons and Alaix were serving as provincials (authorities) of the Company of Jesus at the time.

Pedrajas' private diary

Recolons and Alaix are mentioned in the private diary of the Spanish priest 'Pica' Pedrajas that was made public in April 2023. In his notes,

Pedrajas confessed to having sexually abused more than 80 minors

. Pedrajas

died in Bolivia in 2009 due to cancer

, at the age of 66, without ever being tried.

"However, with the survivors

we have identified more than 200 victims

" of other priests, said Pedro Lima, a former Jesuit and part of the complaints committee, at the end of the hearing.

Pedrajas arrived in Bolivia in 1970 to teach in various educational centers. The case against him was declared extinct by judicial authorities and was extended to the living priests he mentioned in his memoirs.

The Catholic Church has expressed its regret several times over what happened and even

Pope Francis expressed his "shame and dismay" in June 2023

.