The appeal against the habeas corpus ruling of Jorge Glas will be heard by José Suing, currently president of the National Court | Politics | News

The president of the National Court (CNJ), José Suing, will be one of the members of the court that will hear the appeal against the first instance decision on the writ of habeas corpus requested by Jorge Glas following the invasion. Public Force agents registered on April 5 inside the Mexican Embassy in the north of the capital to arrest former presidential candidate Rafael Correa.

By lot, the appeals filed not only by Glas’s defense, but also by the Office of the Attorney General, the Ministry and the President of the Republic were referred to the Specialized Tax Litigation Chamber of the CNJ, where the prosecution is located, and the National Assessors Gilda Morales and Gustavo Durango. Morales will be the judge who will preside over the Court of Appeal.

The three magistrates must understand the raison d’être of the subject of the procedure to appeal the first-level decision adopted on April 12 by judges Monica Heredia, Liz Barrera and Adrian Rojas, who unanimously accepted the habeas corpus appeal, determining on the one hand that Glass’s detention was illegal and arbitrary, but on the other hand, did not order his release, since he still had eight years to serve, which could not be modified by the habeas corpus court.

Jorge Glas’ freedom and respect for asylum conditions, the axis of 18 “friends of the court” presented by social groups, members of Parliament and celebrities

Last February, after José Suín took over as president of the country’s highest ordinary judicial body at the National Court Plenary Session, Co-Judge Fernando Conh was appointed to take over the cases heard by Suín’s office. This situation ended in early June, as Co-Judge returned to the Province of Guayas to serve as district judge of the city of Guayaquil. Fernando Conh arrived at the CNJ in 2019 to temporarily assume this position.

It was precisely this topic that Suing addressed during the CNJ plenary session held on the morning of Wednesday, June 5. After thanking today’s former National Associate Judge Cohen and former National Associate Judge Mónica Heredia for their contribution to the CNJ, José Suing explained to the plenary session that next week there could be new associate judges joining, some of whom he had previously requested, and two others who will be replaced by those who left.

“I want to tell you that in order not to leave the Tax Chamber unattended, since it is the one that is directly affected by this return (of the co-judges), I am taking office temporarily until the new co-judges and Dr. Trump take office. Gordillo, who accompanied us in the Chamber, will continue to deal with admissibility issues as co-judge. What we have to be careful about is not to harm the users of specialized justice, which is why we set it to eight, but we are firmly by the cannon on the issue of Sara’s work,” Suing explained.

As part of the appeal, more than 20 amicus curiae have so far filed, mainly seeking an order for the immediate release of Glas, the restoration of his judicial status as an asylum seeker, and an order for Ecuador to provide safe passage for his trip to Mexico. Although they also insist that, once the illegality and arbitrariness of Glas’ detention have been declared, they do not declare the responsibility of the Ecuadorian state in the case and argue that the judges failed to order full compensation determined by the highest authorities of the responsible body for the “violent intrusion” of the Mexican Embassy in Quito.

The Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry and the President of the Republic have appealed the decision of the Court of First Instance declaring the detention of Jorge Glas “illegal and arbitrary”. These institutions believe that the appeal should not be admitted because no rights have been violated and there has been no arbitrary or illegal detention, but rather the arrest was carried out in accordance with the current legal system.

Recusation in the Manabi Redevelopment Case

The National Court still does not have a date for the hearing of the habeas corpus appeal, although a date has been set for the hearing of another case and another lawsuit related to former Vice President Glas. Next Monday, June 10, National Court Judge Felipe Córdova has called for a hearing at 09:00 to hear the recusation request filed by the Corresta leader against National Co-Judge Julio Inga, in charge of the criminal prosecution for corruption in the Manabí reconstruction case.

Jorge Glas challenged Judge Julio Inga, who authorized the inspection of his mobile phone and held a preliminary hearing for the Manabi reconstruction trial

In this case, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating Glass and eight other persons for allegedly misappropriating public funds raised through the solidarity law approved after the April 2016 earthquake, which were supposed to be used exclusively for the care of the affected areas. During the investigation phase, facts emerged such as the relocation of victims who still live in tents, the surcharges for mobile hospitals, and the apparent use of the money to finance non-priority projects.

Attorney General Diana Salazar explained that the facts of the nine suspects stem from the misuse of funds provided by Ecuadorians for the restoration of areas severely affected by the earthquake. In this case, there are rumors of irregularities in the contracting of multiple projects, including the Manta-Colixa road project or the construction of the Las Vegas Park.

The theory addressed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office claims that, although these projects do not conform to the axes proposed by the Solidarity Law (emergency, reconstruction and recovery), they were awarded and identified as priorities without taking into account that there are more than 580 projects that require immediate attention in the reconstruction of public infrastructure, housing, health and education following the earthquake that struck several coastal provinces of Ecuador.

Salazar noted that the investigations conducted showed that certain projects that interested the defendant and those close to him were given priority, while other projects were more urgent and public contracting procedures were circumvented, and for these projects, one company, Salazar said, was even linked to a relative of Carlos Bernal, now accused. It is assumed that the total amount of misappropriated funds would reach $367 million. (I)