‘Guacho’ and 26 collaborators are prosecuted for terrorism

Ecuadornews:

Judge Óscar Corozo heard yesterday (Monday, October 15, 2018) the arguments of the prosecutor Wilson Toainga, in the legal process for terrorism that is still against alias ‘Guacho’ and 26 people, who apparently collaborated with the head of the Óliver Front Siniterra.

The trial preparatory hearing began after 08:30 and takes place in the Criminal Unit, which is located in the Community Surveillance Unit (UVC), in the south of the city of Esmeraldas. Until that place relatives of the detainees attended, who for seven months have remained in prisons like Latacunga.

Prosecutor Toainga presented the evidence that supports his accusation. But the lawyer of seven of the 27 defendants, Segundo Caicedo, said the prosecutor presented evidence “according to his convenience.”

While the proceeding was taking place, relatives of three people detained in the town of Ricaurte said that the captures were made without any evidence, “arguing a supposed triangulation of telephone calls.”

According to the investigators, the communications were directed to a man who would have links with alias ‘Guacho’. The father of one of those apprehended argued that yesterday’s hearing took place “in the midst of uncertainty,” because they do not know what will happen to their relatives. “My brother was a security guard at the millennium school in Ricaurte. He was arrested on March 16, while resting in his house in Ricaurte, “said a woman.

In the group of 27 are also men who were intercepted in the border town of Mataje. The relatives of the detainees in that town preferred not to talk about it. The lawyer Caicedo explained that until yesterday he did not know what his defendants were accused of. According to the lawyer, at least seven arrests were made for possible money laundering. “Then they said it was because of illicit association, then because of organized crime and now because of terrorism.”

Until the closing of this edition, the judicial proceeding continued in one of the rooms of the Criminal Unit of Esmeraldas. The hearing moved to that place, to avoid any incident. In fact, the courts of San Lorenzo say they have security, but that they work with a “high level of risk”. The director of the Council of Judicature in Esmeraldas, Fernando Otoya, recognizes that judicial officials are more exposed when they leave their work and, for example, travel to other cities. (I)

Source: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/guacho-procesados-terrorismo-atentados-esmeraldas.html