Colombia denounces mass deportation of citizens from Ecuador
On Thursday, the Colombian government reported that authorities in the neighboring country had announced plans to deport Colombians currently imprisoned in various Ecuadorian penitentiaries.
"Through diplomatic channels, Colombia has formally lodged its strongest protest against the Ecuadorian government for this unfriendly act, and is currently evaluating appropriate measures in response," the Foreign Ministry said Friday night.
The ministry emphasized that Ecuador had taken this action "without implementing any protocol to guarantee the safe, orderly, and respectful transfer of detainees, in line with their human rights."
Ecuador's Foreign Ministry said in a statement it had notified Colombia via diplomatic channels of individual deportation proceedings starting July 8, and that the process followed the country's legal framework.
Authorities underscored their commitment to due process, citing the issuance of individual rulings and judicial release orders.
"Ecuador therefore rejects claims of mass deportations," the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Radio Caracol reported that Amilcar Pantoja, mayor of the Colombian border town of Ipiales, confirmed that around 700 Colombian detainees were being sent across the binational bridge without prior official notice.
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2 hours ago
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'My parents were taken hostage in Iran. I need to hear from them'
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The Guardian
5 hours ago
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Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The house of horrors where killer butchered couple he befriended online then decapitated and stored their remains in freezer...as neighbour reveals 'chilling' moment he came face to face with killer
Grim photos show the house of horrors where a Colombian porn actor murdered an older couple he was staying with before chopping up their bodies and dumping them on Clifton Suspension Bridge. Civil partners Albert Alfonso, 62, and Paul Longworth, 71, welcomed 35-year-old Yostin Mosquera into their home in Scotts Road, Shepherd's Bush, west London. Tragically, their flat would be transformed into a sinister murder scene as Mosquera hatched a twisted plot to kill both men and desperately cover his tracks on July 8 last year. First, he bludgeoned Mr Longworth to death with a hammer, inflicting blow after blow on the same day he had searched ''where on the head is a knock fatal?' and 'hammer killer'. Chilling photos released by the Met Police show the hammer he used at the scene, as well as the bloodied divan bed where Mosquera hid Mr Longworth's body so that Mr Alfonso - who was at work - would be none the wiser when he returned home. 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I never seen him before that but I couldn't stop staring. I got the shivers. 'I was shocked when it came out in the papers, I was numb for two hours. It's awful.' The man, who did not want to be named, said he was left feeling 'angry and shocked' that he lived so close to the scene of the double murder. He also questioned Mr Alfonso's desire for 'extreme sex' and pornography, adding: 'You don't know what sort of people it's going to attract. In the end he attracted a murderer from online.' The neighbour, referencing the fact that Mr Alfonso would have sex with other men, added: 'No wonder Paul was always at the pub. I used to see him and the shops and He used to ask me to come for a drink. He'd go at lunchtime.' Mr Longworth would regularly go to The Shepherd & Flock, an Irish pub on the High Street, just a few minutes from his home. Neighbours said that Mr Longworth used to regularly drink at the Shepherd and Flock - a stone's throw from his flat Another neighbour said it is 'such a community' and that 'all the neighbours chat', but they added: 'It's not very nice what he [Mr Alfonso] had in his bedroom. But I guess everyone has skeletons in their closet.' A friend, who like Mr Longworth was Irish, told MailOnline: 'They were really friendly, they were a very happy couple. I knew Paul more so than Albert. 'The last time I saw Paul was probably two weeks beforehand. He'd recently retired. He was planning holidays and things like that. He seemed his normal self. 'I had only just come home from Ireland the day they announced it on the news. I'd seen the police presence and assumed it was a burglary or something. 'It hadn't clicked until they said about the suitcases in Bristol were linked to our street that's when it dawned on me. It was shocking. It's one of those things you expect to see on the news, you never expect it to be on your doorstep. It's awful. 'They were brutally killed. It puts me on edge knowing it happened there. It must be ten times worse for the people who live next to him or above him. The friend, who believes the house has been left empty since, added: 'I'd imagine it would be horrible to move in there. I presume the flat has been cleaned but I don't know.' Neighbours say the 'friendly' community was rocked by the double murder, with one saying: 'I walk through here so many times and I've never ever felt day and night unsafe. I was horrified when I heard about it.' A worker at the nearby care home, just down the road from the flat, said: 'It was scary at the time. It's something you see on the news or in a move not in the place you work.' As far as neighbours are aware, no one has moved in to the house. There are rumours one of the victims' relatives has asked for the keys but there is no sign of anyone living there today. Shuddering, another neighbour said: 'I wouldn't want to live in there. It's a friendly community - everyone was obviously shocked. You don't expect this. ' Mosquera, a Colombian national, met Mr Alfonso online through webcam sex websites and used the names 'iamblackmaster and 'mrd—k20cm'. The court heard Mosquera visited the couple in London in October 2023 and that they travelled to Colombia in March 2024. He returned to England last June on the promise of English lessons and financial support from Mr Alfonso, whom he had met years earlier on porn websites. The court heard how he also participated in sex acts and dominated and degraded Mr Alfonso who filmed it and posted the footage online. He was in a paid sexual relationship with Mr Alfonso. Prosecutors told the trial how Mr Alfonso, a swimming instructor at Mode Gym in Acton, and Mr Longworth, a retired handyman, were in a happy long-term relationship when they were barbarically murdered by Mosquera. Mr Longworth is believed to have been killed by multiple blows to the head with a hammer between 12.30pm and 1pm on July 8 last year when Mosquera was seen closing curtains to a first floor window on CCTV. Mosquera shattered Mr Longworth's skull before hiding his body in a divan bed, the court heard. He later cut his corpse up with a power tool and knife and stuffed it in a suitcase, the trial heard. Later that day, Mr Alfonso was stabbed to death after he and Mosquera were recording themselves having sex. Jurors were shown the horror footage of Mr Alfonso being killed on camera. Mr Alfonso was in a 'submissive' role and referred to Mosquera as 'master' during the recorded session. 'What is striking, when one considers the footage, is just how calm and in control the defendant remains throughout', prosecutor Deanna Heer, KC, told the trial. On the day that the two men were killed Mosquera googled 'Where on the head is a knock fatal?' and 'How long before a corpse starts to decompose?' 'The post mortem examination of his body revealed that he had suffered severe blunt force trauma to the head which caused his death', said Ms Heer. She explained that there were injuries on his hand, which suggested that he had tried to defend himself. 'When the flat was later searched, a hammer was found lying on the floor in the hallway. It was found to be stained with Paul Longworth's blood', she said. Earlier in his evidence, Mosquera claimed Mr Alfonso cut up Mr Longworth's body after killing him. He said he stabbed Mr Alfonso because he was 'afraid that he would do the same to me that he had done to Paul'. Mosquera said after seeing Mr Longworth's dismembered body, he decided to do the same to Mr Alfonso's corpse. 'Yes I saw Paul's body and I cut Albert's. I don't know the exact moment but I cut it having seen Paul's body'. The trial heard how Mosquera was interrupted by a man while he was attempting to dispose of the suitcases on Clifton Suspension Bridge. Prosecutor Ms Heer, KC, said: 'At about 11.30pm on the night of the 10 July 2024 Douglas Cunningham was cycling home across the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol when he saw the defendant, Yostin Mosquera, standing next to a large red suitcase. 'Thinking he was a lost tourist, Mr Cunningham stopped to see if he was okay. 'A few metres away from where the defendant was standing, on the bridge approach, there was another suitcase, a large silver trunk. 'The defendant told Mr Cunningham that he was from Colombia and that the suitcase he was standing with contained car parts. That was a lie. 'In fact, the suitcases contained the decapitated and dismembered bodies of Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso, which the defendant had taken to Bristol from their home in London where they had been killed two days before.' The trial heard how Mosquera was visiting Mr Alfonso at the time of the killings, having returned to the UK to stay with the couple on June 9 2024. On June 29 2024, Mr Alfonso and Mr Longworth took Mosquera to Brighton for the day, with photos showing them at Brighton pier, drinking beer and going on a zip wire. They also engaged in sex sessions along with another man, known by pseudonym James Smith in the trial. But on July 8 last year, Mosquera hatched his plan to kill Mr Longworth and Mr Alfonso before attempting to cover up their deaths. Mosquera had denied both murders and sought to blame Mr Alfonso for killing Mr Longworth. But the prosecution's case was that Mr Alfonso did not know and that he was out of the flat at work at the time Mr Longworth was killed and that Mosquera hid the body before he returned. The court heard that Mosquera had also got hold of Mr Alfonso's financial information, copying over spreadsheets containing his bank details relating to Barclays, Halifax, Natwest, Moneygram and Paypal on June 27. Prosecutors told the court this was to 'steal' money from Mr Alfonso. On July 8 last year, the day of the murders, Mosquera also looked up the value of the Scotts Road flat in a bid to 'find out what they [the couple] were worth'. Mosquera claimed during the trial that he feared for his own life and believed he was about to be killed when he stabbed Mr Alfonso. He also said he was 'raped every day' by Mr Alfonso, telling jurors it made him feel 'humiliated, sad and trapped', but never angry. But prosecutor Ms Heer KC reminded the court that his 'detailed' defence statement produced for trial made no mention of the alleged rape. The case was put to a retrial after incorrect evidence was placed before the jury. Mr Justice Bennathan told Mosquera, aided in the dock by an interpreter: 'I am not going to pass sentence on you today. The only sentence I can pass is one of life imprisonment.' The judge ordered psychiatric reports and adjourned sentence until 24 October. Mr Justice Bennathan also thanked the jurors who had to view the horrific footage repeatedly throughout trial.
