Bolivian justices face Senate trial

LA PAZ - Bolivia's Chamber of Deputies yesterday impeached two Supreme Court justices, including the chief justice, on charges of soliciting a bribe in an extradition case. Chief Justice Edgar Oblitas and Justice Ernesto Poppe will stand trial in the Senate. They deny the allegations. If convicted, they could be sentenced to two years in prison and be barred from the legal profession for life.

The case stems from a Supreme Court vote last October not to extradite Antonio Ibarra, a former Nicaraguan official accused of embezzlement. Two weeks after the vote, the justices were charged with seeking a bribe from Mr Ibarra to vote against extraditing him. AFP