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Constitutional Court admits political trial to Jorge Glas
Posted On 22 Dec 2017
Ecuadornews:
Unanimously eight judges of the Constitutional Court (CC) gave way to the start of the political trial against the Vice President of the Republic without functions, Jorge Glas, sentenced in the first instance for the crime of illicit enrichment by the Odebrecht case.
The plenary session of the maximum constitutional organism was installed this Thursday with the presence of eight of the nine judges that integrate it to resolve the admissibility of the request for impeachment made by the Assembly. Judge Pamela Martínez was the only one who did not attend, because as it was known she had been reported ill.
The judge draftsman of the draft opinion was Manuel Viteri, who prepared his brief in just one day, despite the fact that the Law of Jurisdictional Guarantees gave him three terms. From 11:00 this document, whose content is still kept in reserve, was read, debated and approved.
This plenary was reserved. The press was allowed to take video and photos, while the president of the CC, Alfredo Ruiz, stressed that they would not give statements.
After 13:00, the agency reported in a three-line statement that it had resolved “on the request for the initiation of political prosecution of the Constitutional Vice President of the Republic, in accordance with the constitutional and legal regulations in force.” Your decision will be notified to Parliament this Friday.
After hearing the favorable opinion, Mauro Andino, undersecretary of inter-institutional coordination, attended the Assembly, who held a meeting with the president of the Assembly’s Oversight Committee, María José Carrión (AP-morenista). In the end he did not want to talk to the press.
Once notified of the opinion of the CC, the president of the Assembly, José Serrano, will inform the Legislative Administration Council (CAL) and send to the president of the Commission the request for prosecution, the admissibility report and the documentation of sustenance, so that it takes knowledge and substantiates the process. For the interpellant legislator, Roberto Gómez (CREO), the Court “has done its job”. He added that “the current vice president does not represent any honest citizen of Ecuador, he must be censored and dismissed for being a hindrance to the development of the country.”
Silvia Salgado (AP-PSE) said that the trial against Glas should advance to the plenary session of the Assembly, and commented that the possibility is analyzed that once the 90 days of abandoning the office are completed, an executive decree will be issued, expanding the order for the definitive absence of the vice president to María Alejandra Vicuña, until it is replaced, for which the date of the sending of a respective three will be announced.
At the moment, the legal department of the Presidency analyzes the scenarios, since according to Salgado, the appointment of the new vice president can be expected until after the referendum, since the campaign starts on January 3 (I)
