2024-04-06 06:05:15
The State Attorney General’s Office opened a preliminary investigation for alleged illicit association in the public contest to elect the head of the Public Defender that develops a citizen selection commission that operates in the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (CPCCS).
The public contest of merits, opposition and challenge for the election of a public defender, in which there are nine candidates, is on the verge of concluding.
This Wednesday, April 3, the deadline is closed for citizens or civil society organizations to file challenges against the nine participants, if they consider that there is a notable lack of probity or suitability; failure to comply with legal requirements; be subject to prohibitions and disqualifications; having omitted relevant information; or, if the falsification or alteration of documents is known.
If there are objections to any of the contestants, the citizen commission will analyze whether to reject or accept them, in which case public hearings will be called to substantiate them.
Otherwise, they will move on to the last phase which is the designation of the new authority.
In this context, the Specialized Unit in Transnational and International Organized Crime of the Attorney General’s Office opened a preliminary investigation that involves the three contest applicants who have obtained the highest qualifications in their merits and knowledge and writing exam, quantified by the members of the citizen commission. They are:
| Contestants | Merits/50 points | Written test/30 points | Practical exam/20 points | Final grade/ 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodrigo Daniel Frías Toral (free practice lawyer) | 48, 5 | 28, 5 | 19, 46 | 96, 46 |
| Byron Javier Guillén Zambrano (former judge of the National Court of Justice) | 39, 5 | 25 | 18, 96 | 83, 46 |
| Jorge Cristóbal Ballesteros Ballesteros (freely practicing lawyer and former tax agent until 2022) | 47, 5 | 24, 5 | 8, 07 | 80, 07 |
The complaint was presented by the independent assemblyman (before the Citizen Revolution) Ferdinan Álvarez Zambranowho from the beginning of this process, in 2023, objected to the actions of the former members of the citizen commission, who were removed from their duties by the CPCCS chaired by Gina Aguilar.
As part of the judicial investigation, the three candidates, the members of the citizen commission and the seven members of the Citizen Participation Council have been called to give their statements, which will begin this April 3.
Other facts are investigated, but politically
The election of the first authority of the Public Defender’s Office was also marred by a complaint of alleged influence peddling that reached the Citizen Participation Council itself and the Oversight Commission of the National Assembly.
The events take place around a complaint from two people against the counselor Johanna Verdezotodue to an apparent meeting that had occurred with the contestant, Rodrigo Frías Toral.
The complaint exposes photographs of who would be Verdezoto attending a meeting with Frías, in which other political actors would participate.
On March 20, the Oversight Commission, chaired by Correismo legislator Pamela Aguirre, called Verdezoto to clarify her probable presence at that meeting, but the counselor did not attend. Yes, it was the president of the CPCCS, Nicole Bonifaz and Yadira Saltos, the latter as the complainant.
That same day, Verdezoto asked the full Council to call the complainants to present their concerns in a general commission. She was supported by members Juan Esteban Guarderas, Mishelle Calvache and Andrés Fantoni.
On March 27, the complainants were summoned and did not attend. They alleged that there were neither the conditions nor the impartiality to present themselves; Furthermore, because they are the complainants, not the accused, and the one who should explain and clarify is the observed authority.
In that session, Verdezoto said that she excused herself from intervening in the case, that she has nothing to hide and that her request that the complainants attend was so that their requests could be met.
In the midst of the discrepancies between the councilors, President Nicole Bonifaz regretted that the four members did not support her due to the questions against her when she traveled to the Galapagos in the middle of the carnival holiday with a “territorial agenda.”
“What a pleasure to have that support, that camaraderie for Councilor Verdezoto. I would have liked that when I went through the process for the trip to Galapagos, that there was a statement from Calvache and Guarderas (who asked for explanations)… In a petition where a citizen observatory was created to meet with local governments… It has been worse going on a territorial agenda, rather than having photos with a candidate,” Bonifaz commented ironically.
Calvache reproached him that to this day they are waiting for the agenda he fulfilled in the Galapagos.
Meanwhile, Verdezoto reproached her: “Be careful with what you say, Mrs. Bonifaz, you cannot say about the veracity of the photos. You can’t say… Yesterday, citizens, my assistant was fired! “I am being a victim of retaliation from the president of the Council!” She expressed indignantly.
In November 2022, the contest to elect the public defender began with the call for citizens to apply and has not concluded since then, due to constant protection actions that kept it detained for almost a year, until it was resumed at the beginning. of this 2024.
Meanwhile, for more than five years the Public Defender’s Office has been chaired by Ángel Torres Machuca, who occupies that position as the person in charge by order of the defunct transitional CPCCS.
Source: KCH