- Title: Ecuador judge rules ex-President Correa must stand trial for kidnapping
- Date: 8th November 2018
- Summary: QUITO, ECUADOR (NOVEMBER 07, 2018) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS, SUPPORTERS OF FORMER ECUADOREAN PRESIDENT, RAFAEL CORREA, DEMONSTRATE OUTSIDE OF COURT VARIOUS, ECUADOREAN JUDGE, DANIELLA CAMACHO, AT HEARING FORMER ECUADOREAN LEGISLATOR WHO ACCUSES CORREA OF ORDERING HIS KIDNAPPING, FERNANDO BALDA, WITH HIS LAWYERS AT HEARING BALDA TAKES SEAT AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FORMER ECUADOREAN LEGISLATOR WHO WAS KIDNAPPED, FERNANDO BALDA, SAYING: "Today, judge Daniella Camacho, in her ruling confirmed the prison order against (former Ecuadorean President) Rafael Correa and (former Ecuadorean intelligence chief) Pablo Romero within Ecuadorean territory. But, at the same time, she also confirmed the request to Interpol, with which today she declared in her ruling that Rafael Correa is officially a fugitive of justice." RAFAEL CORREA'S LAWYER, CAUPOLICAN OCHOA, AT HEARING OCHOA TAKES SEAT AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RAFAEL CORREA'S LAWYER, CAUPOLICAN OCHOA, SAYING: "They are playing with fire. They are provoking a tremendously complex situation. A regime (referring to current administration of Lenin Moreno) that is falling apart under its own weight. A regime that is dying, that is in its death throes, and what it does is resort to the administration of justice using it - for what? To drive off, to drive away the most visible figure in our public activities (Correa)."
- Embargoed: 22nd November 2018 04:07
- Keywords: Rafael Correa kidnapping charges trial detention prison Lenin Moreno
- Location: QUITO, ECUADOR
- City: QUITO, ECUADOR
- Country: Ecuador
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA00195N8LZ7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:An Ecuadorean judge on Wednesday (November 07) called for a criminal trial against and preventative detention for former President Rafael Correa for involvement in the kidnapping of an opposition politician.
The trial, however, can not move forward until the ex-president returns to the country given Ecuadorean law which prohibits criminal trials to be undertaken in absentia.
Correa, who governed this South American country from 2007 to 2017, is accused of ordering the kidnapping of the former legislator Fernando Balda, which took place in Bogota, Colombia in 2012.
Aside from Correa, four other officials have been ordered to prison in the same case. The judge also ordered their bank accounts to be frozen.
Several months ago, the same judge ordered preventative detention for Correa who currently resides in Belgium with his family. On Wednesday (November 07) she sent the request to law enforcement authorities so that Interpol can be notified of the order.
For his part, Correa has called the criminal process a "political persecution" by the current government.
Correa's lawyer also criticized the order on Wednesday (November 07), saying, "they are playing with fire. They are provoking a tremendously complex situation."
Balda accuses Correa and other officials of ordering agents of Ecuador's Intelligence agency to plan his kidnapping and carry it out with the help of Colombian police. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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