Skip to main content

Interpol rejects demand to arrest Ecuador’s Correa in politicized “kidnapping” Case

Since coming to power last May, President Lenin Moreno – a handpicked successor of Correa – has fought to remove any trace of Correa’s influence from the ruling party the charismatic leftist once led.

by Elliott Gabriel

Three months after an Ecuadorian court requested that Interpol issue a “red alert” to detain, imprison, and extradite former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, the former head of state remains free and has continued to wage his legal defense against charges emanating from officials in the government of President Lenin Moreno.

According to Correa’s legal team, this will remain the case after Interpol suspended the Andean nation’s extradition request in an “exceptional” manner, having considered the merits of his defense argument, which maintains that the prosecution of Correa on charges of conspiracy and kidnapping are of a politicized nature.

In July, Ecuadorian Attorney General Paul Perez issued an international request that Correa, 55, be placed in preventive detention and extradited for not appearing at the Ecuadorian Prosecutor’s Office to face a trial related to his alleged role in the attempted abduction of former opposition legislator Fernando Balda. The ex-deputy, Balda, had escaped to neighboring Colombia in 2012 following his conviction for slander against the Ecuadorian head of state.

Correa, who lives in his wife’s home country of Belgium, has denied the charge and sees the process as a “farce” and as “lawfare” — or the politicization of the judiciary and a continuation of President Moreno’s campaign to tarnish his image and prevent him from remaining involved in his country’s political future.

Earlier this week, the economist’s legal defense team indicated that Interpol rejected the “red alert” after examining a dossier sent by Correa’s defense to the organization’s headquarters in France.

The previous rulers are being prosecuted as a means to remove them from the political arena,” attorney Christophe Marchand told reporters. It remains yet to be seen whether the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files will allow Ecuador’s lawsuit against Correa to continue on an international level.

However, pretrial hearings for the case are due to continue in Ecuador on Friday following delays earlier this week, when the prosecution’s case materials were found to be unfit for presentation to the court owing to technical errors.

The former president’s legal-defense team has expressed suspicion about the delay and incredulity over the shambolic nature of the legal proceedings, while speculating about whether the scrutiny of international observers caused an intentional delay of the court date.

The hearing continues Friday afternoon and the international observers leave Friday morning. I think it is clear what we are facing, worse still with the shameful behavior of the general attorney,” Correa noted on Twitter.

If the charges against Correa are sustained by Attorney General Perez, Correa could face a jail sentence of up to nine years.

Antonio Ingroia — Italian journalist, former judge and lawyer on Correa’s defense team — told Sputnik Mundo that the lack of evidence in the case shows the fraudulent and “surreal” nature of the arrest warrant against Correa and his tenuous connection to the Balda abduction, which Ingroia sees as “literally invented and lacking the slightest evidence.

The “betrayal” continues

Since coming to power last May, President Lenin Moreno – a handpicked successor of Correa – has fought to remove any trace of Correa’s influence from the ruling party the charismatic leftist once led.

Moreno’s ascent to the presidency was largely due to the continued popularity of his predecessor’s decade-long legacy of social development programs meant to end the “banana republic” nature of Ecuador’s political culture and economy.

However, since splitting with his former mentor, Moreno has embraced former opposition leaders; deposed and jailed his own vice president and Correa ally, Jorge Glas; replaced a moderate distrust for Washington and an independent foreign policy with all-out reintegration into the pro-United States fold; and torn apart the left-leaning PAIS Alliance party, which has ruled the country since Correa was voted into office in 2006.

In February, Ecuadorians backed a controversial referendum, supported to the hilt by state resources, that reimposed presidential term limits, potentially barring Correa from ever returning to political power on a national level.

Moreno has also stripped Correa of any right to enjoy the protection of Ecuadorian state security forces, a privilege typically granted to former heads of state in the South American country. Correa sees such measures as indicative of Quito’s desire to see him either killed or imprisoned.

Betrayal can only happen between friends,” the former leader told Jornal do Brasil Sunday in reference to his former vice president, adding: “In the past, Moreno said that my government was the best in the world, that I was the best president of all, but now I am a thief, authoritarian, murderer, kidnapper, repressor, corrupt. It’s complete hypocrisy.

The regional trend of lawfare continues unabated

The campaign to persecute Correa has led to the widespread use of the word lawfare in media outlets across Latin America in relation to the continent’s right wing using legal processes for the sake of stripping political opponents of their legitimacy and popular support through exaggerated or false accusations of corruption, dirty dealing, and graft.

Correa and other critics have also pointed to the ongoing persecution of former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva as proof of an attempt by the United States and regional right-wing elites to exact revenge on the wave of leaders and popular movements that came to power in the 2000s as part of a trend dubbed “socialism of the 21st-century.”

Ecuadorian deputy to the Andean Parliament Pamela Aguirre told NODAL news in an interview Friday that the Ecuadorian state has been rendered nearly non-functional, as the Moreno government – with the support of large corporations and media consortiums – has unilaterally manipulated, dissolved, or dismissed most government bodies in its attempt to root out the legacy of the Correa administration.

In the face of such a situation, our democratic system hangs in the balance,” she noted, adding: “In Ecuador, the ‘anti-corruption’ discourse has been used to make way for a process of judicial persecution against any actors who are opposed to the Moreno regime. It is extremely necessary to promote this fight against corruption, but what can’t happen is that the government takes advantage of this resource to block democratic methods used by the opposition.

Source, links:



Related:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Oct. 7 Reports Implode: Beheaded Babies, NY Times Scandal, & More

Glenn Greenwald    

Israel’s Descent Into Madness & the Holocaust Comparison

BreakThrough News   Rania Khalek was joined by Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian from Germany and associate professor at Koc University in Istanbul, to discuss Israel’s descent into genocidal fascism. Prof. Amar addresses whether it’s useful to make Holocaust and Nazi comparisons and the real reason behind the West’s unshakeable loyalty attitude when it comes to Israel’s barbarism.   

Zionist and US imperialist criminals are about to grab the natural gas off shore Gaza

globinfo freexchange   As the genocide against Palestinians of Gaza is about to be completed with an act of unprecedented brutality by the Zionists and butcher Netanyahu through the bombardment of about 1.4 million civilians in Rafah, it seems that they have already set their next primary goal. Which, in short, is to grab the natural gas resources off shore Gaza, together with their US imperialist buddies whose contribution to the genocide has been undoubtedly critical.     As already reported , in 2007, Hamas came to power and Israel launched an offensive on Gaza Strip, leaving behind 1,400 dead Palestinians, but taking with it the gas fields. Within a year, Israel announced the discovery of the Leviathan natural gas field, which did include Gaza's riches, valued at 453 billion dollars. But Gazans have been denied around 47 billion dollars in revenue. As for Tel Aviv, it's gunning to become a new hub. At that moment in time, that is 2022, Russian oil and gas were sanctioned.

Neocon Queen Victoria Nuland Ends Her Reign: Exposing a Catastrophic Career

Glenn Greenwald    

Τυχαία γεγονότα στην τριτοκοσμική μπανανία των Βαλκανίων

failed evolution   1) Συμβαίνει το μεγαλύτερο σιδηροδρομικό δυστύχημα στην ιστορία της χώρας. 2) Γίνεται αστραπιαία επιχείρηση μοντάζ των συνομιλιών του σταθμάρχη από μηχανισμό του καθεστώτος, πριν ακόμα φτάσει στα χέρια των αρχών, προκειμένου να αποδοθεί η τραγωδία αποκλειστικά σε ανθρώπινο λάθος και να βγουν από το κάδρο οι πολιτικές ευθύνες ανώτατων κυβερνητικών αξιωματούχων. 3) Αναπαράγεται το παραποιημένο υλικό αστραπιαία από ναυαρχίδα της καθεστωτικής προπαγάνδας. 4) Τοποθετείται επικεφαλής στην επιτροπή-παρωδία πρωτοπαλίκαρο του καθεστώτος Μητσοτάκη που εργάζονταν παλιά στην ίδια αυτή ναυαρχίδα. 5) Η επιτροπή κλείνει άρον-άρον την υπόθεση αποκλείοντας ουσιώδεις μάρτυρες που είχαν προειδοποιήσει επανειλημμένα τον αρμόδιο υπουργό για τον κίνδυνο μεγάλου δυστυχήματος. Σταματάει έτσι και η όποια σε βάθος διερεύνηση για την τσιμεντοποίηση του χώρου και την απόπειρα συγκάλυψης της τραγωδίας.  

Το σκάσιμο της φούσκας Μητσοτάκη με νέα επίσημη χρεοκοπία και οριστικό τέλος της μεταπολίτευσης

του system failure   Τα αποτελέσματα των εκλογών της 25ης Ιουνίου ήταν λίγο-πολύ αναμενόμενα όσον αφορά τις πρώτες θέσεις με βάση και τα αποτελέσματα της πρώτης κάλπης του Μαίου. Αν συμπεριλάβουμε και το ποσοστό της αναμενόμενης αποχής, δεν μας έδωσαν κάποια ιδιαίτερη έκπληξη. Αυτό όμως που φαίνεται να αιφνιδίασε ακόμα και το συστημικό κατεστημένο, είναι η είσοδος των δύο υπερσυντηρητικών, ακροδεξιών κομμάτων Νίκη και Σπαρτιάτες, με το τελευταίο να έχει ξεκάθαρες διασυνδέσεις με τον πρώην Χρυσαυγίτη, Ηλία Κασιδιάρη. Παρά τη μεγάλη νίκη Μητσοτάκη, οι μιντιακοί ινστρούχτορες της καθεστωτικής προπαγάνδας εμφανίστηκαν σε γενικές γραμμές "μουδιασμένοι" και αυτό οφείλεται στο γεγονός ότι το συστημικό κατεστημένο (δηλαδή τα μεγάλα οικονομικά συμφέροντα που ελέγχουν και το σύνολο των μεγάλων ΜΜΕ πανελλαδικής εμβέλειας), πέτυχε μόνο έναν από τους τέσσερις μεγάλους στόχους που είχε θέσει εξ'αρχής. Μιλώντας με ποδοσφαιρικούς όρους, ουσιαστικά έχασε με σκορ 3-1.   Ο μεγάλος στόχος πο

The Shadowy, Intelligence-Linked Group Driving the US Towards War With Iran

"United Against Nuclear Iran does not miss an opportunity to try to bring the United States closer to a military conflict with Iran. And on the other side of the equation, they also have worked very hard to oppose efforts to de-escalate the U.S.-Iran relationship."   by Alan Macleod   Part 7 - A Lesson From History   The history of Iran has been intimately intertwined with the United States since at least 1953 when Washington orchestrated a successful coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh had refused U.S. demands to stamp out Communist influences in his country and had nationalized the nation’s oil. The U.S. installed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as a puppet ruler. An unpopular and authoritarian ruler, the Shah was overthrown in the Revolution of 1979. Since then, it has become a target for regime change, and its nuclear program is something of an obsession in the West. Often orchestrated by UANI officials while they were in government, the U.S. has carried

How the CIA oversees the Ukraine proxy war on Russia

Geopolitical Economy Report   Several reports in mainstream US media outlets show how the CIA has helped to direct the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, and played a role in causing the conflict in the first place. Ben Norton examines the evidence.   Related: Confirmed: US imperialists wanted to drag Russia into a war with Ukraine since at least 2019

The Invasion of Gaza's Resources Begins: Jared Kushner, the EU, Egypt & US

Richard Medhurst   Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son in law who previously tried to steal land in the Middle East from Arabs has said that Israel should empty the Gaza strip of civilians. He said that " Gaza's waterfront property could be very valuable ". He then proceeded to suggest ethnic cleansing: " move the people out and clean it [Gaza] up " Simultaneously, the transfer of billions of dollars from the European Union (7.4b EUR), the International Monetery Fund ($8b) and the United Arab Emirates ($32b) to Egypt: an attempt to buy Sisi's silence perhaps? The United States is also shipping 1000 troops and a firm "Fogbow", owned by a former CIA officer and USMC veteran, in order to build a pier in Gaza. These events do not seem like a coincidence. Medhurst explains why this relates to theft of gas and building of a canal in Gaza.   Related: Zionist and US imperialist criminals are about to grab the natural gas off shore Gaza

Israel Carries Out Most Sadistic Massacre, Opens Fire On Gaza Aid Convoy

Richard Medhurst