Former Ecuadorian vice president detained in embassy raid gets 13 years in prison

Quito, Ecuador (AP)-The former Vice-President of the Ecuador who was detained last year during a highly criticized police raid on the Mexico Embassy in the South American country was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Monday.

Jorge Glas had been accused of having abused public funds for the reconstruction of two provinces affected by an earthquake in 2016. The earthquake devastated communities and killed hundreds of people.

Glas became vice-president in 2013, during the presidency of Rafael Correa, and was withdrawn from this position in January 2018, when he was charged in a case of corruption linked to the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

J. Mercedes Caicedo said that the funds for reconstruction efforts after the earthquake were attributed to “unusable, unusable and unnecessary buildings” without taking into account the law, and above all, “with total lack of respect for the victims”.

The court also prevented the death knells from taking public functions and imposed a fine of $ 28,800.

Glas is already in a maximum security prison serving a duration in two other corruption cases. He was arrested in April 2024 when the police stormed the Embassy of Mexico in the capital of the Ecuador, Quito, a few hours after obtaining asylum.

The raid of the embassy aroused indignation among the world leaders, who criticized the Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa.

The diplomatic premises are considered to be foreign and “inviolable” soils under the Vienna Convention on consular relations, and the law enforcement organizations of the host country are not authorized to enter without the authorization of the ambassador.

The government of the equator defended the arrest, arguing that Glas was a fugitive sought in case of corruption, not for political reasons, and was therefore not eligible for the diplomatic protection of Mexico.