Controversy over bill that could leave Jorge Glas free

Posted On 12 Sep 2018

Ecuadornews:

A controversial bill was approved in mid-August by the National Assembly. César Montúfar said that this document is intended to release former Vice President Jorge Glas, who is in prison for corrupt for the crime of illicit association in the case of the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

With 107 votes in favor, the plenary of the Assembly approved on August 14, 2018, the second debate of the draft Organic Law to Combat Corruption. The ex-ambassador asked President Lenin Moreno to veto the law on Monday, otherwise Montufar said the president would become an accomplice.

“I think that the assembly members have to explain to the country why they voted yes,” Montúfar said.

Mariano Zambrano and Marcela Aguiñaga

Given these statements, Assemblyman Mariano Zambrano in a document says that his draft anti-corruption law was presented on July 12, 2017, months before the former vice-president was sentenced.

He also said that the changes proposed by the reform are in bribery, illicit enrichment, embezzlement and concussion. According to Zambrano, it is the Public Defender’s Office that proposes reforms regarding the illicit association.

Marcela Aguiñaga, president of the Assembly’s Justice Commission, also said that Montúfar misinforms the citizenry since part of the proposal of the former Public Defender, Ernesto Pazmiño, was accepted in said project.

“It is illogical that a text submitted two years ago has been delivered with the intention of favoring a person sentenced in 2018,” said the correísta.

César Montúfar explains “the trap”

“This law in its first article, literal F, changes the penal type due to illicit association. Let’s remember. Glas was sentenced in December, but his sentence is not yet firm for a crime of illicit association that would no longer be in the law, “said.

Then, explains Montúfar, the lawyers of the incarcerated former vice president would argue that “Glas cannot be imprisoned, since the crime for which he was sentenced no longer exists.” (I)

Gracias a los ciudadanos por sus comentarios y a los asambleístas por enriquecer el debate con sus opiniones. Debemos exigir el veto de esta mal llamada #LeyAnticorrupción, que permite impunidad para Jorge Glas e involucrados en caso Odebrecht. Aquí explico la trampa ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/iUxNN69ePJ
— César Montúfar (@CesarMontufar51) 11 de septiembre de 2018