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Arrest warrant against Correa: ex-Ecuadorian president denounces a "sham"

2020-09-25T18:03:41.366Z


Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who lives in exile in Brussels, described Friday, September 25 as "a gigantic procedural sham " his sentence to eight years in prison for corruption by the justice of his country, which ordered his arrest on Wednesday. Read also: The IMF has reached an agreement with Ecuador for a loan of 6.5 billion dollars “ Never in my life have I received or allowed


Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who lives in exile in Brussels, described Friday, September 25 as "a

gigantic procedural sham

" his sentence to eight years in prison for corruption by the justice of his country, which ordered his arrest on Wednesday.

Read also: The IMF has reached an agreement with Ecuador for a loan of 6.5 billion dollars

Never in my life have I received or allowed a bribe.

This case is a gigantic procedural sham that will not stand the test of time,

”reacted Rafael Correa, who led Ecuador between 2007 and 2017, in a statement sent to AFP in Brussels.

Ecuadorian justice confirmed on September 8 in cassation his sentence to eight years in prison.

The court which tried Rafael Correa in abstentia established that the former president and several of his former collaborators, also convicted, had received bribes from various companies in exchange for contracts.

Justice ordered Ecuadorian police to locate and arrest the former socialist official.

Read also: Ecuador: more than 9,000 dead from coronavirus, including probable deaths

The court decision also includes a lifelong ban for Rafael Correa, 57, from holding elected office, while the former head of state wishes to participate in the elections scheduled for next February.

"

There is no rule of law in Ecuador,

" denounced Rafael Correa, who says he is the subject of "

persecution

" orchestrated by the current president Lenin Moreno, who was his vice-president between 2007. and 2013. “

The chances of a fair trial have always been zero,

” he criticized.

His lawyer in Belgium, Christophe Marchand, also denounced a “

masquerade

” and indicated that “

no extradition is possible under such conditions

”.

"

There is no independent and impartial justice for Mr. Correa in Ecuador

", he said in a statement, judging that "

the current Ecuadorian government has stopped at nothing

" to "

prevent the return to policy of one of its most fierce and popular opponents

”.

Rafael Correa, who claims to be the target of thirty investigations in Ecuador, is the subject of another arrest warrant for the kidnapping in Colombia of an Ecuadorian opponent in 2012, a crime for which he cannot be tried in absentia.

The former president, who has lived in Belgium since 2017, announced in mid-August his wish to run for the vice-presidency of his country within a left-wing coalition.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-09-25

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