• Evo Morales was held in contempt of court after failing to appear for his trafficking trial.
• He is accused of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl during his presidency.
• Supporters threaten unrest if he is arrested amid ongoing tensions in Bolivia.

A Bolivian judge has found former President Evo Morales in contempt after he did not attend his scheduled trial for allegedly trafficking a minor. This ruling renews tensions within the country, with his supporters warning of chaos should Morales be apprehended. Morales is accused of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office, charges that he vehemently denies, labeling them as a form of "legal warfare" against him according to SCMP and Reuters.

Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president, has lived in hiding since late 2024, evading a previously issued arrest warrant linked to these allegations. His absence during the trial has confirmed his fugitive status, prompting authorities to renew the warrant and impose a travel ban on him. Supporters have rallied against any potential arrest, positing that such actions would lead to significant unrest across Bolivia, as highlighted by reports from Al Jazeera and SCMP.

Morales had previously been declared in contempt of court in January 2025 for a similar no-show at a pretrial detention hearing. His defense team argues that they were not adequately notified about the current proceedings, which Morales has labeled as a fabricated campaign against him. In his words, "the government is carrying out against me a brutal judicial and media persecution," a sentiment echoed in various reports including Reuters and Al Jazeera.