Ecuador’s Public Ministry arranges for former vice-president Jorge Glas to undergo a new trial

The Public Ministry Ecuador reported this Friday that a hearing will be held on January 5th to formulate charges against Jorge Glasafter the judge in the case accepted the Public Ministry’s request to bring the former vice president of the Government of Rafael Corrêa (2007-2017).

“At the insistence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the national judge, Luis Rivera, The hearing to formulate charges for alleged embezzlement (embezzlement) – in the Reconstrução Manabí case – was scheduled for Friday, January 5, at 8:30 am, the source said in a message from his account on the X network.

Furthermore, he indicated that in this case “three people will be prosecuted: Jorge G. (Glas), former president of the Committee for Reconstruction, and former employees Carlos B. and Pablo O”.

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The Public Ministry’s announcement came one day after the National Assembly (Parliament) refused to authorize the new criminal trial against Glas, who is currently processing an asylum request to Mexico.

Judge Rivera himself had requested the Legislature’s decision, considering that it should be the Chamber that should authorize the process, since at the time of the alleged crimes being investigated Glas was vice-president and enjoyed special jurisdiction.

The Chamber did not reach the 92 votes (two thirds) necessary to authorize Judge Rivera’s request, and only reached 44 adhesions.

Former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Glas salutes after leaving prison, in Latacunga, Ecuador, on April 10, 2022. (Photo by Mateo Flores / AFP) (MATEO FLORES/)

Upon learning of the Assembly’s decision, the Public Prosecutor’s Office assured that “the authorization” of that body is not necessary because, although the alleged acts had been committed when Glas was vice-president, the process began later.

The case called ‘Reconstruction’ investigates the alleged embezzlement of funds in the reconstruction process of the coastal province of Manabí (west), hit by a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake in April 2016.

During the parliamentary debate, legislator Vicente Taiano, from the conservative Social Christian Party, maintained that judge Rivera’s request should not have been granted, because the magistrate was also involved in a tax investigation into another corruption case that the Public Ministry is investigating.

Taiano assured that Judge Rivera “lacks legitimacy” and recalled that his office was invaded by the Public Prosecutor’s Office as part of the ‘Metástase’ case, which investigates an alleged infiltration plot by organized crime in judicial institutions.

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Glas entered the Mexican Embassy in Quito last weekend, at a time when the Public Prosecutor’s Office asked the Police to locate and arrest him, as part of the investigations into the ‘Reconstruction’ case.

The former vice president was imprisoned between 2017 and 2022 for conviction in another case of illicit association related to the bribery scandal at Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

Glas said he will try to overturn the case after Brazil’s Supreme Court annulled evidence used by Odebrecht, which affected politicians in that country (including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) and others in the region.

Source: Elcomercio