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Glas’ arrest declared illegal, but he remains imprisoned in Ecuador

Quito, Apr 12 (Prensa Latina) Ecuador´s National Court of Justice in charge of analyzing the habeas corpus of former Vice President Jorge Glas rulled on Frifay that his detention in the Mexican embassy was arbitrary and illegal, however he will remain behand bars.

In the ruling, the court headed by Judge Monica Heredia pointed out that the apprehension was given without a search warrant, so it is an illegal detention, which is not justified by the decree of internal armed conflict.

“It is arbitrary”, Heredia underlined, who immediately specified that even so, Glas would not be released from prison because he has two final sentences against him.

Regarding asylum, granted by Mexico, the court indicated that it is not up to the court to pronounce, but to the diplomatic authorities.

In the hearing, which was resumed on Friday afternoon, Glas told how he was apprehended inside the embassy and the physical aggressions he suffered.

The former official, who is on hunger strike and appeared in the session connected via telematic from prison, asked the court to return his asylum status, while government representatives spoke out against this possibility because of the sentences against him.

In his testimony, Glas recounted how he was raided at the Mexican diplomatic headquarters on Friday, April 5, and claimed he was mistreated and tortured.

He stated that he counted 43 bruises all over his body, that his thumbs were dislocated, that he was trampled and beaten.

The police acknowledged the use of force and justified it by alleging that he was allegedly resisting arrest.

The habeas corpus request sought the release of Glas based precisely on the unlawfulness of his arrest in a foreign territory, whose order was given verbally and in writing by President Daniel Noboa, as it was learned at the hearing.

The violent trespassing by Ecuadorian police officers at the Mexican embassy was condemned by the international community, causing the break of diplomatic relations with Mexico, a complaint against Ecuador before the International Court of Justice, and the request for the South American country to be suspended from the UN.

Glas, considered one of the symbols of “lawfare” in Ecuador, temporarily received the benefit of pre-release on November 28, 2022, after the unification of two prison sentences of six and eight years for the Odebrecht and Bribery cases; however, the measure was revoked.

pll/lam/avr

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