Ecuador ex-VP Glas must stay in jail despite illegal arrest, says court

FILE PHOTO: Ecuador’s Vice President Jorge Glas talks during an interview with Reuters at the Government Palace in Quito, Ecuador, August 29, 2017. REUTERS/Daniel Tapia/File Photo

By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) -A tribunal in Ecuador on Friday ruled the dramatic arrest of former vice president Jorge Glas last week was illegal, but said he must remain in jail due to his previous convictions.

Glas, twice convicted of corruption and now facing fresh charges, was arrested a week ago during a raid by police on Mexico’s Quito embassy, where he had been living since December.

The arrest crowned a period of rising diplomatic tension between Ecuador and Mexico, though each country’s government has since said it is open to repairing relations.

Glas’ defense team said the three-judge tribunal should declare his capture at the embassy illegal and set him free, arguing that Ecuador’s government violated his human rights and international law by authorizing security forces to enter a diplomatic mission.

Judge Monica Heredia speaks during a court meeting to rule on a habeas corpus request from Ecuador’s former Vice President Jorge Glas, who is seeking to be released from prison after his detention during an armed raid on Mexico’s embassy where he had sought and been granted political asylum in Mexico, in Quito, Ecuador April 12, 2024. REUTERS/Karen Toro

The tribunal confirmed the arrest “was illegal and arbitrary,” said Judge Monica Heredia, but added that due to the existence of previous convictions “this tribunal cannot modify the (jail) sentence.”

Ecuador’s former Vice President Jorge Glas, who is seeking to be released from prison after his detention during an armed raid on Mexico’s embassy where he had sought and been granted political asylum in Mexico, is seen on a screen as he remotely attends a court meeting to rule on a habeas corpus request, in Quito, Ecuador April 12, 2024. REUTERS/Karen Toro

Glas’ lawyers did not immediately comment on the ruling.

Former President Rafael Correa, whom Glas served under between 2013 and 2017, said on Wednesday Glas had attempted suicide and was on hunger strike to protest his imprisonment at a jail in Guayaquil, which his lawyer Sonia Vera later confirmed.

Glas was taken to hospital on Monday, before being returned to prison the next day.

In a video shared by Vera on Wednesday, Glas recounted his arrest, alleging police had beaten him during the operation.

During the court hearing on Thursday, Ecuador’s police denied torturing Glas during the arrest but said force was used progressively due to the former vice president’s resistance.

The government has said it had evidence Glas was planning to escape, though it has not provided details.

Mexico’s granting of asylum to Glas violates international laws which prohibit asylum for people facing criminal charges, Ecuador has argued.

Prior to the arrest, Quito declared the Mexican ambassador persona non grata, citing “unfortunate” comments by leftist Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Mexico has since called on the United Nations to suspend Ecuador if the South American country does not apologize for its assault on the embassy.

(Reporting by Alexandra ValenciaWriting by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Richard Chang)