Parents ask collective forgiveness for releasing of students

The parents of 53 students in pretrial detention for ten days for their alleged involvement in protests of Thursday, met on Saturday outside the Flagrancy Unit of the Prosecutor asking collective forgiveness to President Rafael Correa.

Attorney Santiago Pazmiño Rendón and father of one of the detainees, said: “Mr. President, Rafael Correa: I have been delegated by these worthy fathers and mothers to take up to your stand a public and sincere apology for all young students who are now deprived of their liberty, for some alleged vandalism … All parents are broken and ask sincere forgiveness, including me, because my son is also innocentlyarrested.”  He added that the students were violently apprehended: “My son has two broken teeth.”

Hernan Beltran, the father of another of the prisoners, like other parents, expressed his belief in the innocence of the students but noted that they also ask for the apology. “Now we must apologize, even if we are right. For a child, what has someone to do? The people must humble themselves, for our children we are humiliating.”

30 youths were taken to the Temporary Detention Center this Saturday night and the remaining 23 at 09:45 of Sunday.

The police report indicated that young people “were attacking each other with sticks and stones, causing damage to public and private property.” And when they were asked to leave, they gesticulated “words against the regime and police members.”