Edgar Vaca, a former police commander, receives political asylum in the United States.

Edgar Vaca, the former chief of the National Police who is accused of crimes against humanity, was granted political asylum from the United States, according to his defense lawyer, Marcelo Dueñas.

Vaca is required by the Ecuadorian justice in an investigation into the torture and disappearance of three former guerrilla fighters from the subversive group Alfaro Vive Carajo.

A US judge granted him protection as an asylum. However, this decision will be final if the US prosecutor’s office does not appeal the decision.

In the anti-subversive struggle of the 1980s, it is said that Vaca and five other former officers would have committed the crimes mentioned above against Susana Cajas, Luis Vaca, and Javier Jarrin.

Edgar Vaca was released by the Interpol on February 13, 2016, after being arrested a few weeks earlier, on January 27.