The Ecuadorian justice declared on Friday that the arrest of former vice president Jorge Glas in the Mexican embassy was illegal, but he ordered that he remain in jail to serve a pending sentence for corruption cases.
A week after the controversial police raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito, Judge Mónica Heredia said that the violation of Glas's personal freedom was evident “because his detention was formally illegal and arbitrary,” and noted that “immediate freedom would correspond.” of the affected person.”
According to his explanation, the arrest did not comply with the formalities of previously communicating to the relevant authorities the decision to raid the Mexican diplomatic headquarters.
The police raid on the Mexican embassy led to a crisis with the government of that country, which broke off relations with Ecuador. The international community condemned and questioned this raid.
Despite the judicial ruling, the court decided that Glas, convicted in two corruption cases and with an open investigation, remains in jail.
“It is not appropriate to grant freedom to the citizen since there is another prison order against him other than the one that motivated the habeas corpus request,” the ruling states. Glas was present electronically when the decision was read.
The defense of the former vice president had presented that appeal to request that he be released. A habeas corpus seeks to restore a person's freedom when his or her detention is considered illegal or arbitrary.
The former vice president has yet to serve the entire eight-year prison sentence ordered by sentences of the National Court in two cases of corruption, but he is also being investigated in another case for misappropriation of public funds in the reconstruction works of two provinces after a earthquake in 2016.
Shortly after, another court of justice accepted a request from the prosecution in the same case of the reconstruction of the two provinces and issued a prison order for Walter Solís, former Minister of Transportation in the government of Rafael Correa. Solís received refugee status from Mexico since 2021, although two sentences for corruption cases weigh on him.
For five other defendants, precautionary measures were issued, such as periodic presentation to the authorities and a prohibition on leaving the country.
Glas, who took refuge in the Mexican embassy since mid-December to avoid justice in this latest case, remains in a maximum security prison in the port city of Guayaquil, where he has said he is on a hunger strike.
“A victory” that “cleans the face”
One of Glas' defense lawyers, Marcelo Orellana, said in statements to journalists that “this is a victory” because it has been recognized that the detention was illegal and arbitrary. “Today the Ecuadorian justice system repairs and cleans its face for the arbitrary action against a former vice president,” he declared.
He also indicated that new judicial appeals will be presented to insist on the freedom of his client, and because in addition “he had an asylum status granted to him by the Mexican State.”
From Thursday night until almost dawn on Friday, a first hearing was held to resolve the habeas corpus appeal, where reports, testimonies and allegations were presented, both by Glas's defense and those involved in the detention.
Via telematic means from prison, the former official recounted how he was detained and stated that the police officers mistreated him and kicked and kneed him. Glas insisted that he is a victim of political persecution and denied having committed the crimes for which he is sentenced, as well as for which he is being investigated.
The defense of the former vice president maintained that the arrest was “illegal” because it did not respect international standards on the inviolability of diplomatic headquarters and the asylum granted hours before by the Mexican government.
The Noboa government defends its actions
The legal secretary of the presidency, Mishele Mancheno, denied the attacks that Glas claims to have suffered, and justified the capture by arguing that “irregular asylum does not prevent an arrest order from being carried out.” She insisted that the former vice president has sentences for common crimes, which means “there has been no action outside the legal system.”
Tensions with Mexico began with statements by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in which he questioned the result of the Ecuadorian presidential elections won by President Daniel Noboa, and spoke about the possible influence that the assassination would have had on the results. of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio a few days before the first round.
The police raid on the Mexican embassy triggered the breakdown of bilateral relations, a global reproach to Ecuador and condemnation from the Organization of American States.
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