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Arrested in Spain the intelligence chief of the Correa Government for his extradition to Ecuador

2020-02-19T21:50:44.569Z


Pablo Romero Quezada is required by the Ecuadorian authorities for the crimes of kidnapping and extortion in the Balda case


The police have arrested in Spain Pablo Romero Quezada, who was the National Secretary of Intelligence of Ecuador (SENAI) with the Government of Rafael Correa, for his extradition to that country. Ecuadorian justice requires him for the crimes of kidnapping and extortion for his alleged participation in the attempted kidnapping of former Assemblyman Fernando Balda, who had been convicted in Ecuador for slander against former President Correa and who was a fugitive in Colombia.

The former official was arrested Tuesday in the Madrid town of Torrelodones (30 kilometers northeast of the capital) by order of the third section of the National Court, police sources have reported. Romero Quezada has entered prison where he will remain until his delivery. The arrest comes twenty months after the National Court released him after his first arrest in Spain for his alleged involvement in the attempted kidnapping of Balda, a case in which former President Correa was also involved. Since then, once the Ecuadorian authorities requested the delivery of the former head of the Intelligence services, the National Court agreed to the extradition.

Ecuadorian Judge Daniella Camacho believes that Romero is responsible for the operation for which Ecuadorian secret agents, under his orders, allegedly attempted to kidnap opponent Balda in August 2012 in Colombia. Balda was held for about ninety minutes, because Colombian police thwarted the kidnapping following a taxi driver's call. For this reason, two Ecuadorian secret agents have been sentenced to one year and nine months in prison, given that both collaborated with the courts and pointed to former President Correa and Romero Quezada as responsible for ordering the kidnapping.

Romero Quezada requested political asylum in Spain, without so far the response has been notified, they have told Efe sources of their surroundings, which take for granted the denial of that protection. In that case, the Fiscal Ministry issued a preventive detention order in July that the ex-president refused to comply with. Correa has not returned to Ecuador. The ex-president resides in Belgium since he was replaced in the Government by Lenin Moreno, who was his vice president between 2007 and 2013, but completely broke with the line of his management.

The organization International Network of Organizations of the Ecuadorian Civil Society (RED) has rejected the delivery to Ecuador of those who consider "a persecuted politician," according to its secretary general, Manel García, who attributes it to "systematic political persecution" to those who participated of the Government of Correa, has indicated in a statement released on social networks.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-02-19

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