BUENOS AIRES, June 27. /TASS/. Bolivian General Juan Jose Zuniga, who led the servicemen to the square in front of the government building in La Paz, may be sentenced to 15-20 years in prison, Bolivian Justice and Institutional Transparency Minister Ivan Lima Magne said.

"A criminal case has been launched for the violations of articles 121, 127 and 128 of the Penal Code. We will seek to have Juan Jose Zuniga sentenced to the maximum possible sentence for these crimes, which is between 15 and 20 years in prison, for attempting to attack democracy and the Constitution," he wrote on his X page. According to a previously published warrant for the general's arrest, Zuniga and other participants in the attempted coup are suspected of committing acts of terrorism and armed rebellion against public security and state sovereignty.

The minister also said that the general's previous statements that the coup attempt was carried out at the request of the country's president, Luis Arce, were false. "Zuniga is lying and trying to justify his own decision, for which he will be held accountable before the law," the minister emphasized.

On June 26, a group of Bolivian military officers led by General Juan Jose Zuniga, who was dismissed as the army chief on June 25, occupied the square in front of the government building in Bolivia’s de-facto capital city of La Paz. President Luis Arce condemned their actions as an attempted coup and swore in the new command of the armed forces. The new army chief, Jose Wilson Sanchez ordered all the servicemen to return to their barracks. Shortly after, the military left the square. Zuniga was arrested.