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Correa Defense seeks to dismantle 28 clues that involve him in kidnapping
Posted On 28 Sep 2018
Ecuadornews:
The defense of the ex-president of Ecuador Rafael Correa revealed today in a recess of the trial preparatory hearing, which takes place in the National Court of Justice of Quito, which focuses on dismantling 28 indications that indicate him as involved in the plot of the kidnapping an opposition politician in 2012.
“I have taken only the points that refer to the former president and are about 28 that made the Office of the Prosecutor very organized,” Correa defender Caupolican Ochoa told the media.
The lawyer said that in today’s hearing he executes “one by one” those indications, “trying to show that they are not strong enough to go on the adventure of a trial”
He also argued that what “would correspond is to end this stage with a dismissal” by the national judge, Daniella Camacho.
For his part, the lawyer of Fernando Balda, the ex-legislator who was kidnapped in Colombia in 2012 by a group of Ecuadorian intelligence agents in a vehicle before being intercepted by the authorities of that country, explained that the judge is analyzing each element of conviction separately, as if they were not related to each other.
However, he hoped that once he puts “on a scale the elements that have been used” can give way to the trial phase, which can be elucidated if at least “20 people who say that Rafael Correa knew this” can be called to testify to be subjected to a cross examination.
The lawyer, Felipe Rodríguez, added that Correa “is being guaranteed the right to defend himself, a right that his defense is exercising.”
The Ecuadorian state attorney general, Paúl Pérez, presented an accusatory opinion on Tuesday against Correa and three other suspects in the kidnapping case of the opposition politician Balda in the pre-trial hearing that began last week in Quito.
The accused were identified as the perpetrators of the crimes of illicit association and kidnapping of the ex-legislator, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, which asked the national judge “for the corresponding appeal to trial.”
From Brussels, where he resides since leaving office, the former Ecuadorian president said on Tuesday that “they have nothing” against him. (I)
