LA PAZ (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2020) The lower house of the Bolivian parliament has drafted and passed a law to the Senate that would prohibit criminal punishment for virus-free quarantine violators, Sergio Choque, head of the lower Chamber of Deputies, said on Tuesday.
"From today on, the Senate has the law that we passed on Monday on its hands, which will protect citizens from the criminalization of quarantine violations and which also warns that the police and the armed forces should monitor human rights," Choque told reporters.
He also expressed hope that the measure initiated by the Movement for Socialism (MAS) political party would be immediately adopted by the Senate so that it could be effectively applied during the quarantine before April 30.
The law can be blocked by one of the Interim President Jeanine Anez's government decrees against the coronavirus pandemic, which made quarantine non-compliance a criminal offense against public health.
According to the latest data, Bolivia has confirmed 598 COVID-19 cases and 34 fatalities.
