Ireland queries Bolivia over killing of its citizen
DUBLIN - The Irish government yesterday urged Bolivia to explain why police shot dead an Irish man and questioned its accusation that he was involved in a suspected plot to kill President Evo Morales.
Michael Dwyer was one of three people killed last week by Bolivian police who the leftist government said belonged to a gang of "famous mercenaries" planning to assassinate Morales.
Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said Dwyer had no criminal record or army background in Ireland.
"The Irish Government has a legitimate right to seek the facts of how one of its citizens came to be killed by the security forces of another state," Martin said in a statement.
Bolivian officials have named the group's leader as Eduardo Rozsa, a Bolivian who also held Hungarian and Croatian passports, and who fought in the Balkan wars.
Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia said yesterday that Bolivia had videotapes of statements made by Rosza to Hungarian media before he died that proved he and his group had violent, illegal intentions and aimed to be part of a separatist movement in the South American country.
