Anez, 54, has been held in pre-trial detention since March 2021, and has consistently denounced what she calls political persecution.
Bolivian ex-president Jeanine Anez has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges linked to her assumption of office in 2019 amid protests that led to the resignation and exile of her predecessor, Evo Morales.
Anez was on Friday convicted by a court of dereliction of duty and acting against the constitution when she proclaimed herself president in what Morales and his party have called a coup.
Prosecutors had asked for a 15-year jail sentence but the court said it was "sentencing her to a punishment of 10 years".
Anez, 54, has been held in pre-trial detention since March 2021, and has consistently denounced what she calls political persecution.
The former interim leader will serve 10 years in a women's prison in La Paz, the city's First Sentencing Court announced in a decision that comes three months after her trial began.
Anez still faces charges in a separate, pending case for sedition and other charges related to her short presidential stint.
'Irregularly' assuming presidency
Right-wing Anez became Bolivia's interim president in November 2019 after Morales, who claimed to have won a fourth consecutive term as president, fled the country in the face of mass protests against alleged electoral fraud.
The Organization of American States (OAS) said at the time it had found clear evidence of voting irregularities in favour of Morales, who had been in power for 14 years.
Many who would have succeeded Morales — all members of his MAS party — also resigned and fled. This left opposition member Anez, then vice-president of the senate, as the highest ranking official remaining.
The Constitutional Court recognised Anez's mandate as interim, caretaker president, but MAS members disputed her legitimacy.
Elections were held a year later, and won by Luis Arce — a Morales protege.
After handing over the presidential reins, Anez was arrested in March 2021, accused of irregularly assuming the presidency.
At the start of her short-lived presidency, Anez had called in the police and military to restore order. The post-election conflict caused about 35 deaths, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
For that, Anez also faces genocide charges.
With the presidency and congress both firmly in MAS control, Morales returned to Bolivia in November 2020.
READ MORE: Former Bolivian president Anez arrested in 'coup' probe
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