Ecuadorian public prosecutor’s office repudiates Duarte’s escape: ‘It’s a mockery for the public and for those who work against corruption’

There Attorney General of the State of Ecuador pronounced after the escape of the former Minister of Transport and Public Works, Maria de los Angeles Duartelast week, and expressed deep concern about the episode.

“This institution considers that what happened is a travesty for citizens and for honest officials who work against corruption and impunity,” begins the letter published in recent hours.

Duarte took refuge in the Argentinian Embassy in Quito since August 13, 2020, when he entered with his son as “invited for humanitarian reasons” after being sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption in the cause “Bribes 2012-2016”which investigates corruption crimes against the public administration.

“In the case in question, Justice carried out technical work based on the law, which must be respected within the framework of the rule of law. For this reason, the fact that only one of the convicted women comes out – as has happened before with those who removed the electronic monitoring device or regained their freedom thanks to the issuance of favorable reports – sends a sad famous message of impunity to society. He then condemned the letter.

From the start, the Ecuadorian authorities have expressed to the Argentine government their disagreement with the reception given to the former official, as they consider that it violates their democratic and judicial system.

However, since the government of Alberto Fernandez They did not give rise to these claims and, on the contrary, redoubled the stakes by offering them diplomatic asylum.

All this has caused great unease within the Ecuadorian executive, which claimed to have sent “communications to the officials of the Court of Justice and the Public Prosecutor’s Office so that the relevant international protocols are activated for the cases of people sentenced to execution”, as well as the “Search block, Interpol and investigation units to locate and capture citizen Duarte”.

Thus, from the organization, they ratified their desire that the “fugitive” fulfill her sentence and assured that “they use public resources which -despite all the limitations, the political and economic pressures and even the threats- lead to the justice reach gear penalties for those who took advantage of the state coffers”.

The prosecutor’s office “does again a call to all institutions to fulfill their duties and assume their responsibilities and decisions, ensuring that sentences are met and those responsible pay their debt to society“, concludes the press release.

In line with this position, a few hours earlier Ecuador’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Luis Vayas, called a meeting with the Argentine Ambassador to the country, Gabriel Fuks, to clarify a series of issues surrounding the event, which allow the authorities to better understand the situation and find Duarte.

However, the meeting was not very fruitful since the diplomat refused the request for surveillance camera recordings from the diplomatic headquarters and claimed not to know the whereabouts of the fugitive.

Moments later, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry received confirmation by telephone from Fuks that Duarte was in Venezuela – precisely in the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas-, where he did not provide “explanations on how” he arrived in the country “nor if he is with his son” and “inquired about the documents that our country could provide him”.

Continue reading: