Police used tear gas to disperse protesters in Santa Cruz, Bolivia's biggest city, on Friday, after a court sentenced the local governor and opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho to .four months in pretrial detention.

Protesters threw fireworks at the security forces. Buildings were attacked and cars and tires were set alight, while major routes were blocked in the city considered to be a stronghold of the right-wing opposition.

Camacho to be held in maximum security prison

The 43-year-old Camacho was arrested on Wednesday on charges of terrorism.

The judge on Friday ordered that Camacho be held at a maximum security prison in the country's capital city, La Paz.

Camacho labeled his arrest and transport to La Paz a kidnapping, but prosecutors denied it was politically motivated.

"I'll never surrender, this is a fight for democracy and freedom," Camacho said on his Twitter account.

The politician has been investigated on suspicion of playing a role in the ousting of socialist president Evo Morales in 2019 and his inciting unrest in Santa Cruz this year.

Camacho, who leads the second-biggest opposition bloc in the country's congress, denies the allegations.

In June, a Bolivian court found former President Jeanine Anez guilty of mounting a coup in 2019 and sentenced her to 10 years imprisonment.

Anez ascended to the presidency after the resignation of Evo Morales in 2019.

kb/dj (AFP, Reuters)