Lawyer: Bolivia judge frees top indigenous leader, opponent of Morales development plans

The lawyer for a top Bolivian indigenous opposition leader says client Adolfo Chavez has been released from detention by a judge who threw out a corruption case against him.

Otto Richter says Judge Romy Peredo ruled on Saturday night — two days after Chavez's arrest — that the case be anulled because Chavez was questioned in Spanish rather than in his native Tacana, a practically extinct language. Chavez nevertheless speaks perfect Spanish.

Chavez has been a vocal critic of President Evo Morales' aggressive push to extract oil, natural gas and minerals from protected areas in Bolivia's eastern lowlands and fell trees for agriculture.

He is former president of the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Bolivia.

Prosecutors accused him of diverting $130,000 in public funds. Chavez denies the charge.