Ecuador's former vice-president Jorge Glas sentenced after dramatic embassy raid
Glas, 55, is currently in prison serving out convictions in two prior corruption cases and had been due for release in little under three years.
However, Monday's sentence means his jail time is extended until 2041.
The court said it had applied the maximum possible sentence.
The politician, who had served as vice president under the leftist Rafael Correa, was captured by Ecuadorian authorities following a raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito last year.
The raid led to the severing of diplomatic ties between Ecuador and Mexico, and prompted Mexico to put in a complaint to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Mexico maintained Ecuador violated international law by breaching the embassy, while Ecuador accused its counterpart of illegally granting asylum to Glas.
Glas's court case had revolved around the reconstruction work carried out after a devastating earthquake in Ecuador's coastal provinces of Manabi and Esmeraldas in 2016, which left nearly 700 people dead.
The Supreme Court in Quito ruled that Glas did not use the millions of dollars collected from Ecuadorian taxes towards the reconstruction for that purpose.
Some of the money was used to build a bridge in a remote area far from the disaster zone.
Carlos Bernal, a former official tasked with leading the reconstruction work, was also given 13 more years in jail.
Glas's lawyer argued there was no evidence of misappropriation of public funds for personal benefit or that of third parties, nor harm to the national treasury.
During the trial, Glas insisted he had no access to the earthquake reconstruction fund and did not manage contracts awarded by the reconstruction committee.
He has long argued that he is a "politically persecuted person".
Supporters were quick to condemn the court ruling.
Sacha Llorenti, General Coordinator of the International Commitee for the Freedom of Jorge Glas, called it "outrageous and abhorrent".
"Without evidence, political decisions are being made to keep Jorge as a political prisoner," he wrote on social media.
Outside of court, Glas's defence lawyer Andrés Villegas told reporters the "dignity" of the nation's criminal justice system had been "buried" with the sentence.
In 2017, Glas was removed through a decree of Correa's successor Lenín Moreno.
Shortly after his removal, Glas was sentenced to six years in prison for leading a million-dollar corruption network between politicians and embattled construction company Odebrecht.
The Odebrecht scandal — named after Latin America's largest construction conglomerate — is labelled by the region's legal advocates as one of the "largest transnational bribery schemes ever uncovered".
In 2020, Glas was found guilty for his role in a separate scheme where he collected bribes in exchange for issuing public contracts between 2012 and 2016.
He was sentenced to eight years in jail.
In 2022, an Ecuadorian judge ordered Glas be released from prison, after his lawyers claimed Glas was not safe behind bars.
It was after this he sought refuge in Mexico's Quito embassy.
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ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Ecuador's former vice-president Jorge Glas sentenced after dramatic embassy raid
An Ecuadorian court has sentenced former vice president Jorge Glas to 13 additional years in prison for misusing public funds allocated to rebuild areas affected by a devastating 2016 earthquake. Glas, 55, is currently in prison serving out convictions in two prior corruption cases and had been due for release in little under three years. However, Monday's sentence means his jail time is extended until 2041. The court said it had applied the maximum possible sentence. The politician, who had served as vice president under the leftist Rafael Correa, was captured by Ecuadorian authorities following a raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito last year. The raid led to the severing of diplomatic ties between Ecuador and Mexico, and prompted Mexico to put in a complaint to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Mexico maintained Ecuador violated international law by breaching the embassy, while Ecuador accused its counterpart of illegally granting asylum to Glas. Glas's court case had revolved around the reconstruction work carried out after a devastating earthquake in Ecuador's coastal provinces of Manabi and Esmeraldas in 2016, which left nearly 700 people dead. The Supreme Court in Quito ruled that Glas did not use the millions of dollars collected from Ecuadorian taxes towards the reconstruction for that purpose. Some of the money was used to build a bridge in a remote area far from the disaster zone. Carlos Bernal, a former official tasked with leading the reconstruction work, was also given 13 more years in jail. Glas's lawyer argued there was no evidence of misappropriation of public funds for personal benefit or that of third parties, nor harm to the national treasury. During the trial, Glas insisted he had no access to the earthquake reconstruction fund and did not manage contracts awarded by the reconstruction committee. He has long argued that he is a "politically persecuted person". Supporters were quick to condemn the court ruling. Sacha Llorenti, General Coordinator of the International Commitee for the Freedom of Jorge Glas, called it "outrageous and abhorrent". "Without evidence, political decisions are being made to keep Jorge as a political prisoner," he wrote on social media. Outside of court, Glas's defence lawyer Andrés Villegas told reporters the "dignity" of the nation's criminal justice system had been "buried" with the sentence. In 2017, Glas was removed through a decree of Correa's successor Lenín Moreno. Shortly after his removal, Glas was sentenced to six years in prison for leading a million-dollar corruption network between politicians and embattled construction company Odebrecht. The Odebrecht scandal — named after Latin America's largest construction conglomerate — is labelled by the region's legal advocates as one of the "largest transnational bribery schemes ever uncovered". In 2020, Glas was found guilty for his role in a separate scheme where he collected bribes in exchange for issuing public contracts between 2012 and 2016. He was sentenced to eight years in jail. In 2022, an Ecuadorian judge ordered Glas be released from prison, after his lawyers claimed Glas was not safe behind bars. It was after this he sought refuge in Mexico's Quito embassy. ABC/Wires
News.com.au
26-06-2025
- News.com.au
Ecuador's most-wanted gang leader 'Fito' captured
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News.com.au
02-06-2025
- News.com.au
Mexicans elect their judges under shadow of crime, corruption
Mexicans chose their judges Sunday in unprecedented elections that sharply divided opinion in a country plagued by rampant crime, corruption and impunity. The government and its supporters said the reform making Mexico the world's only nation to select all of its judges and magistrates by popular vote was needed to clean up a rotten justice system. Arturo Giesemann, a 57-year-old retiree, said his main motivation for voting was "the disgust I have with the current judiciary because of its corruption." Turnout appeared to be low as many voters struggled to choose from hundreds of largely unknown candidates. "We are not very prepared," said Lucia Calderon, a 63-year-old university teacher. "I think we need more information." In the western state of Jalisco, 63-year-old housewife Maria Estrada said she used her "intuition" as she did not know the candidates. Experts were concerned that the elections would politicize the justice system and make it easier for criminals to influence the courts with threats and bribery. While corruption already exists, "there is reason to believe that elections may be more easily infiltrated by organized crime than other methods of judicial selection," Margaret Satterthwaite, the United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, told AFP. Hundreds of opponents of the reforms marched through Mexico City waving flags and banners with slogans including: "Hands off our democracy" and "No to electoral fraud." The elections send the judiciary "to its grave," said Ismael Novela, a 58-year-old company worker. "It was the last counterweight we had against the totalitarianism of the executive branch." - 'Regime of corruption' - President Claudia Sheinbaum hit back at her critics on the eve of the vote. "Those who want the regime of corruption and privileges in the judiciary to continue say this election is rigged. Or they also say it's so a political party can take over the Supreme Court," she said in a video message. "Nothing could be further from the truth," she insisted. The run-up to the vote was not accompanied by the kind of violence that often targets politicians in Mexico. But "it is logical that organized criminal groups would have approached judges and candidates who are important to them," said consultant Luis Carlos Ugalde, a former head of Mexico's electoral commission. Rights group Defensorxs has identified around 20 candidates it considers "high risk," including Silvia Delgado, a former lawyer for Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Another aspiring judge, in Durango state, spent almost six years in prison in the United States for drug crimes. - 'Good reputation' - Voters were tasked with choosing around 880 federal judges -- including Supreme Court justices -- as well as hundreds of local judges and magistrates. Another election for the remainder will be held in 2027. Candidates are supposed to have a law degree, experience in legal affairs and what is termed "a good reputation," as well as no criminal record. To do a good job, voters "would have to spend hours and hours researching the track record and the profiles of each of the hundreds of candidates," said David Shirk, a professor at the University of San Diego. He believes that most of the corruption in Mexico's judicial system is in law enforcement agencies and public prosecutor offices. "If you can avoid being prosecuted, you don't have to worry about the judge," said Shirk, who heads the Justice in Mexico research project. The judicial reforms were championed by Sheinbaum's predecessor and mentor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who frequently clashed with the courts before stepping down last year. The main reason for the elections seems to be "because Lopez Obrador had a grudge against the judges," Shirk said.
