LA PAZ, May 3, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Bolivia's justice minister said Friday that an arrest warrant for ex-leader Evo Morales on trafficking charges remains in place, after a judge this week said the warrant had been annulled.

Mounting issues over the arrest come as Bolivia's first Indigenous president plans to formally launch a bid for a fourth term, despite being barred from running again.

Justice Minister Cesar Siles told the state-run Bolivia TV channel that the warrant issued last October was valid, despite the judge's order earlier this week.

Siles said all aspects of the case, including "the proceedings, the charges, the jurisdiction" were unchanged and in place.

Morales has been a wanted man since October when prosecutors issued an arrest warrant over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2015.

Prosecutors say Morales fathered a daughter with the girl a year later and that her parents consented to the relationship in return for favors from Morales.

Siles said the decision by the judge to rescind the warrant was "absurd" and that it was being suspended over unresolved issues.

"Fortunately the rule of law has been restored," local media cited Siles as saying.

The 65-year-old former coca grower, who was president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019, denies the allegations.

He has accused his former ally-turned-rival President Luis Arce of hounding him through the courts to try and bar his return to power.