2024-07-15 19:43:25
Ecuadorian justice sentenced five people involved in the assassination of the presidential candidate to prison terms of up to 34 years Fernando Villavicencioincluding the person who gave the order to shoot, the court in charge of the case reported on Friday.
A Carlos Angulo, member of one of the main criminal gangs in the country, “a sentence of 34 years and 8 months of imprisonment is imposed,” he said. Milton Naughtythe judge who reported the case.
Angulo31 years old and known as the “Invisible”, was the one who gave the order to shoot Villavicencio on August 9, 2023 when he was leaving a rally in northern Quito.
The perpetrator of the assassination was shot dead by the candidate’s bodyguards. Police later arrested six Colombians allegedly linked to the attack, but they were all killed in prison.
Another defendant, Laura Castilloreceived the same sentence for providing weapons, money, vehicles and motorcycles to the hitmen who participated in the crime.
Besides, Erick Ramirez, Victor Flores y Alexandra Chimboas accomplices, received sentences of 12 years each. This is a first instance sentence that can be appealed by the accused.
According to the Ecuadorian justice system, Flores was in charge of providing security for the motorcycle that was transporting the hitman who shot Villavicencio, while Chimbo was in charge of alerting the gunmen about the candidate’s departure. Ramirez did the logistics work at the crime scene.
Another 13 people were injured during the attack, including police officers, soldiers and Villavicencio supporters.
“We need to know the whole truth so that this doesn’t happen again,” wrote Amanda Villavicencio, daughter of the murdered presidential candidate, on social media X.
“Don’t think that we will settle for these five criminals. Narco-assembly members, for this murder, you must go to jail,” he added.
“It was worth 200 thousand” dollars
Outside the Northern Judicial Complex, family members and supporters held up signs reading “jail for cowardly murderers” and photos of the presidential candidate, known for uncovering serious corruption cases.
Villavicencio was a journalist whose investigations implicated high-ranking officials, including allies of former socialist president Rafael Correa (2007-2017).
Among the versions presented throughout the trial that began on June 25, a protected witness stated that the candidate’s “head” was “worth 200,000” dollars and that members of Correa’s government were involved in the case.
The former president, who lives in Belgium and is a fugitive from Ecuadorian justice after being sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption, denies any link to the assassination.
“We want justice to continue to be done for the blood, for the life that Fernando gave,” said Alexandra Villavicencio, the candidate’s sister, at the end of the hearing.
“Just as each of the material murderers of Fernando Villavicencio are being tried, all the intellectual authors should be tried,” he requested.
The trial lasted eight days. The hearings took place amid a heavy security presence. Armed police officers, some of them hooded, guarded the courtroom.
Political violence
Those involved pleaded not guilty during the trial.
A bricklayer by trade, Angulo said via video conference from a prison in Guayaquil (west) that he is a “scapegoat.”
The man was in Cotopaxi prison (central Andes) when the murder occurred. In addition, the authorities point to him as the leader of a faction of the criminal gang Los Lobos.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the day before the murder, Angulo joined a video call with the hitmen.
Seven people were linked to the case, but one was acquitted and another died, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, which did not provide details of the latter’s death. The investigative body opened two other investigations ex officio to look into possible omissions in the case.
Since 2023, nearly a dozen politicians have been assassinated in Ecuador, a country that went from being an island of peace to a hub of organized crime operations.
The struggle for drug trafficking routes and the infiltration of illegal organizations in the State have stained the prisons and streets of the nation with blood, which last year registered a record of 47 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, far from the 6 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2018.
Villavicencio, who was also a member of the assembly, had reported death threats days before his murder. The then presidential candidate blamed “Fito,” the leader of the feared Los Choneros gang, who escaped from a prison in Guayaquil (southwest) last January.
His escape unleashed a wave of violence that left around twenty dead.
LDAV
Related
2024-07-15 19:43:25