Court denies Glas’s appeal and confirms his six years in prison
Ecuadornews:
A court of the National Court of Justice of Ecuador denied today the appeal filed by former Vice President Jorge Glas and confirmed the sentence to six years in prison that was imposed last December.
“The National Court denies appeal and confirms in all its parts the judgment rendered against Jorge G., former Vice President of the Republic and others, for the crime of unlawful association in the Odebrecht Case,” the Prosecutor’s Office said in his account. Twitter
The Court, formed by judges David Jacho, Marco Maldonado and Marco Rodríguez, denied the appeal during the reinstatement of the hearing requested by the Glas defense to have the sentence reviewed.
Dozens of supporters of the former vice president were stationed outside the court, in the commercial center of Quito, to back the appeal in the hope that Glas was released.
Moments before the installation of the audience, former Vice President Glas, who came to the Court from Prison 4 in Quito, where he is in prison, insisted on his innocence and said that he would seek justice in his case.
Glas also denounced an alleged politicization of justice, by groups opposed to his administration, although he did not identify whom he was referring to.
“In this country everything has been taken, the justice system has been taken, the Comptroller’s Office (state accounts court), they are undoing the rule of law, but I have faith in God,” Glas added in remarks on his arrival at the audience.
The defense of Glas has not ruled out reaching international bodies to prove the innocence of the former Ecuadorian vice president.
His lawyer, Eduardo Franco Loor, questioned the ruling of the court, said that several irregularities have been committed in the process and pointed out that in this case the constitutional principle of “favorability” of the law was not applied, that is to say that the norm that most benefited the inmate.
For the Tribunal, a testimony from the Odebrecht reporter José Conciencao Santos and other means of evidence were sufficient to condemn Glas, his uncle Ricardo Rivera and others.
Franco Loor decried the testimony of Conciencao Santos by pointing out that his version has not been confirmed and that there is no evidence of the crimes he has mentioned.
On December 13, the National Court of Justice sentenced Glas to six years in prison for the crime of illicit association in the corruption scheme originated by the bribes of the Brazilian company Odebrecht.
The former vice president, who was condemned for acts related to his role as minister of Strategic Sectors between 2010 and 2012, won the vice presidency of Ecuador in the elections of April last year, which he attended in an electoral formula with the current president, Lenin Moreno , from which he distanced himself shortly after.
The State Prosecutor accused Glas of benefiting from 13.5 million dollars in bribes from Odebrecht, for the award of five construction contracts between 2012 and 2016, when he was responsible for strategic sectors during the government of former President Rafael Correa.
In December 2016, the US Department of Justice revealed that Odebrecht paid $ 788 million in bribes in twelve countries in Latin America and Africa.
In the case of Ecuador, the report indicated that between 2007 and 2016, the Brazilian construction company paid bribes worth $ 35.5 million to “government officials”, which allegedly generated profits of more than $ 116 million. (I)
Source: https://www.larepublica.ec/blog/politica/2018/06/08/corte-niega-apelacion-a-glas-y-confirma-prision/