The Assembly dismisses Sofía Espín and Norma Vallejo as assembly members

Ecuadornews:

Sofia Espin and Norma Vallejo suffered the hardest setback of their legislative career on the afternoon of this Tuesday, November 13, 2018, after the National Assembly Plenary decided to remove them from the office of assembly members.

Espin(citizen revolution) stopped being a legislator with 94 votes (out of 137possible), for visiting a protected witness in jail, who denounced that thelegislator offered alleged perks to change the version of the day before acourt hearing against Rafael Correa.

Vallejo (AP) was dismissed with 89 votes, after being singled out for alleged interference in the filing of public office.

TheNational Assembly met on November 13, 2018 to decide the future of thepositions of the legislators Sofía Espín and Norma Vallejo. The Plenary wasconvened at 4:00 p.m., but it was installed at around 5:00 p.m. And beforedismissing, the assembly was the scene of three episodes: an emotional hugbetween Espin and Vallejo, the definition of 70 votes (absolute majority) as aminimum necessary in the plenary to remove a legislator and the failedchallenge to Elizabeth Cabezas (AP ) as president of the session proposed byGabriela Rivadeneira (citizen revolution).

Thedestitution of Espín (citizen revolution), due to “incompatibility of functions”,was sustained in the report by the Multiparty Commission that investigated thecase denounced by Esteban Bernal (Creo).

Reacción de Sofía Espín tras su destitución como asambleísta. Dice que acudirá a instancias internacionales » https://t.co/1iDCeqZL9n
Vía: @rgrvelez pic.twitter.com/sXxbbxGHaP

— El Comercio (@elcomerciocom) 13 de noviembre de 2018

On October 20, 2018, the Commission, with the affirmative votes of Fernando Callejas (CREO) and Jimmy Candell (BIN), pointed out that Espín incurred a serious infraction that “harms the independence of State powers, as there are indications of an obstruction of the judicial function, within a criminal process of national connotation and involving former President Rafael Correa.”

The Commission recommended the dismissal of Sofía Espín, after the correísta legislator visited in the women’s prison of Quito the former Intelligence member Diana Falcón, protected witness of the Prosecutor’s Office who accused Correa as the plagiarist of Fernando Balda in 2012, in Bogotá, Colombia.

Falcon reported that Espin, who arrived at the prison accompanied by Yadira Cadena, Correa’s lawyer, tried to pressure her to change her version, one day before the trial hearing against Correa in the National Court of Justice.

In thecase of Norma Vallejo (AP), on the other hand, the report of another MultipartyCommission was analyzed, made up of the assembly members Eliceo Azuero (BIN),Noralma Zambrano (AP) and Ana Galarza (CREO), for the denunciation of unduecollections to his advisers made by the legislator Fabricio Villamar (Creo).

Norma Vallejo (AP) aduce ante el Pleno que la Comisión Multipartidista que la investigó por denuncias de cobros indebidos, y que recomienda su destitución, no fue imparcial
Vía: @rgrvelez pic.twitter.com/wCHmLsRvbZ

— El Comercio (@elcomerciocom) 14 de noviembre de 2018

The report of the Commission was presented on October 25, 2018 and recommended that “the Plenary of the National Assembly resolve the loss of the position of Assemblywoman Norma Vallejo Jaramillo, who must also assume the other responsibilities determined by law.”

ThisCommission requested that Vallejo should be investigated for crimes such asconcussion and illicit enrichment. (I)

Source: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/asamblea-destituye-sofia-espin-vallejo.html