Protection of Jimenez and his advisors is a crime according to Chiriboga

The Attorney General Galo Chiriboga affirmed that the Sarayaku people have committed a criminal offense for protecting three sentenced by justice.

Chiriboga referred to former Assemblyman Cléver Jiménez and his advisers Carlos Figueroa and Fernando Villavicencio. `If you review the Penal Code you will realize that protecting a person convicted by the courts is a criminal offense,´ the prosecutor said.

He added that the prosecution has not yet opened a formal inquiry to investigate the alleged presence of paramilitary armed groups protecting Jiménez and his companions denounced by the Interior Minister, Jose Serrano, last Monday.

`Sanity and moderation´ is what Chiriboga expects from people who involved the Sarayaku community in `something they had nothing to do,´ referring to Jimenez, Villavicencio and Figueroa.