Families of the press team meet on Thursday, December 27 with authorities

Ecuadornews:

The relatives of Javier Ortega, Paul Rivas and Efraín Segarra announced that today, Thursday, December 26, 2018, they will hold the first meeting with the Minister of Defense, Oswaldo Jarrín; with the Minister of the Interior, María Paula Romo; the Minister of Justice, Ernesto Pazmiño; and the State Attorney General, Íñigo Salvador.

So far, the relatives had complained, as they claimed that none had given them an opening for a meeting. The last time they spoke with the previous authorities was last June, when the bodies of this newspaper’s team arrived in Quito from Colombia.

Ricardo Rivas, brother of photographer Paúl Rivas, looks at this meeting as an opportunity to find out what state the investigations of the kidnapping and subsequent crime are. In this meeting they will request that the precautionary measures issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights be maintained until this entity presents its final report. They will also ask for information on the steps that the Government made to rescue the team.

On December 21, the death of alias ‘Guacho’, caused the reaction of the relatives of Javier, Paul and Efraín. Also close friends of Katty Velasco or Óscar Villacís. Leonardo Tipán, a lawyer who defends the relatives of this couple, arrived yesterday at the General Prosecutor’s Office of Quito and asked that it be confirmed if the body, whose images were disseminated through social networks, is really the head of the dissidents. “Suddenly there are rumors that it would not be the body of ‘Guacho’. We need to be informed legally and not by means of communication or social networks. The Office of the Prosecutor must provide us with effective, truthful and written information, “said Tipán.

They request that, through international cooperation between the Ecuadorian and Colombian Prosecutor’s Offices, a DNA report made after the death of the armed group be sent. The Colombian president, Iván Duque, ratified that the body corresponds to ‘Guacho’ and said that the color of the skin looked different because of the decomposition. “The cut of the ears is exactly similar, as is the steep shape of the skull. From Colombia, the Prosecutor’s Office revealed the audios of intercepted telephone lines, which allowed to locate the chief of the criminals.

After analyzing the conversations it was learned that the members of Óliver Sinisterra used the alias of ‘Papá’ to refer to ‘Guacho’, according to the Colombian Police.

In the interceptions you hear about business with drug traffickers, payment of informants, frustrated visits with women, etc. (I)

Source: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/familias-equipo-prensa-reunion-autoridades.html