Justice confirms irregular acts in release of ex-captain mentioned in ‘El Chapo’ trial

Ecuadornews:

The Ministry of Justice will file a complaint with the Judicial Council to investigate the justice operators that allowed the release of former army captain, Telmo Castro. Julio Ballesteros, Deputy Minister of Priority Care for Persons Deprived of Liberty, confirmed to this newspaper that irregularities were committed during the pre-release process.

This Monday, December 17, 2018, the entity plans to report more details of the anomalies. One of these, for example, is that during the process in the Rehabilitation Center of Guayas, where Castro was held, the report of the Zonal Commission was omitted, a requirement that the ex-captain sentenced to 13 year sin prison for drug trafficking had to comply with.  

“The Zonal Coordination had to send a record with the file approving that this person (Castro) fulfilled all the requirements. In this case there was no suchmeeting and the approval was based on a decision of the director of the Center,”said Ballesteros.

The ex-captain’s release became relevant after a witness in the trial against drug trafficker Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, in the United States, pointed him out as an important nexus for drug trafficking between Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico.The Internal Instructions for the Application of the Preliberty Phase indicates,in Article 4, that the Director of the rehabilitation center “shall submit to the Zonal Commission of Penitentiary Benefits the file that shall contain the enabling documents that accredit access to said benefit.

Then,the Commission had to review the papers, issue a report and send it to the Judicial Unit. According to Ballesteros, in this case it was sent directly to the judge – who processed the case – the favorable report of the technical team that endorsed the benefit of pre-release.

Certifications were also sent that he was in the minimum security pavilion, that he had not tried to escape, that he had obtained good grades in educational, sports and health activities. In addition, by then he had completed five of the 13 year sin prison.

Another point that drew attention to Ballesteros is that internally, in the Regional Center of Guayas, the process lasted four days: from the time it was request eduntil the entire folder was assembled. These analyzes last more than four months.

Once the complaint was filed with the magistrate, it was processed quickly in the Judicial Unit. According to the file that appears on the Judicial Function page, the demand for pre-release was presented on July 19 of this year. A day later, the judge called the hearing and set it for July 31.

That day the authority decided to release Castro and ordered him to appear every 15days in his office. On Friday, the commander of the Armed Forces, Roque Moreira, referred to illegal acts in which active military personnel have been detected.

The official noted that the recent events “raised with individuals unworthy of wearing military uniform should not demoralize them. On the contrary, it must reaffirm our values ​​to purge the institution of bad elements “. (I)

Source: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/justicia-actos-irregulares-liberacion-castro.html