2024-09-18 10:28:31
Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld is facing impeachment proceedings in the National Assembly. This Thursday, July 18, 2024, the Oversight and Political Control Commission met to present the schedule for the process.
The delegation set dates for the presentation of documentary, audiovisual and testimonial evidence for and against the defendants.
Gabriela Sommerfeld and the steps towards impeachment
On Wednesday night, July 17, 2024, Gabriela Sommerfeld announced, through a statement, that she is preparing her defense in the impeachment trial.
Sommerfeld was represented at the meeting on Thursday morning by a technical team made up of judicial attorneys.
Although the meeting was convened to present the schedule, it was specified that these were tentative dates that could still change.
From there, for example, it was indicated that from July 19 to 21, the assembly members who make up the Oversight Commission will review the information they already have for the process.
The report is expected to be delivered on the 28th of this month, after several days of the so-called test practice.
Arguments of the Chancellor
The Foreign Minister assured that she presented more than 20 pieces of evidence to exonerate the three accusations against her. According to the official, these demonstrate the fulfillment of her duties as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of the government of Daniel Noboa.
The impeachment of Gabriela Sommerfeld is being promoted by Correa’s supporters in the Assembly. The request is based mainly on the police raid on the Mexican Embassy in Quito in April 2024.
Jorge Glas is currently in the La Roca rehabilitation center in Guayas.
According to Minister Daniel Noboa, the arguments for the impeachment against him in the Assembly are not far from the arguments that Mexico presented against Ecuador before the Inter-American Court of Justice (ICJ).
The Foreign Minister said that this is not a political trial against her, but against all of Ecuador. The assembly member of the Citizen Revolution Movement, Jhajaira Estefania Urresta, is the proponent of the process.
In the Oversight Committee, this July 18
The session was held at 7:15 a.m. and Assemblywoman Pamela Aguirre, president of the Oversight Committee, reported that it would resume at 7:23 a.m.
Once the meeting resumed, the details of the dates for dealing with documentary, audiovisual and testimonial evidence for and against the defendants were presented.
Aguirre recalled that the trial is against the Chancellor, not the institution, and it is she who must defend herself. However, she added, they received a request for the technical team to accompany her during the process.
The Assemblywoman stressed that the chancellor can count on her lawyers, but not on an institutional defense, according to the regulations.
The dates of the process
On Tuesday, July 2, 2024, the impeachment proceedings against the Foreign Minister of Ecuador were held. On this date, the parties were notified.
The 15-day period for submitting evidence for and against the accused began on July 3. It ended on Wednesday, July 17. The commission confirmed receipt of the documents sent by the Minister.
By: EL COMERCIO