Jorge Glas's defense denounces that the former Ecuadorian vice president has been incommunicado for more than 48 hours

Glas' legal team denounces a "significant risk to his life and well-being"

MADRID, 8 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The legal team of former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Glas, who was arrested last Friday after an assault by Ecuadorian security forces on the Mexican Embassy in Quito, has reported this Sunday that Glas has been held incommunicado for more than 48 hours, something that "violates Human Rights" and "jeopardizes" his personal safety.

"I express deep concern and alarm due to the total impossibility of establishing communication with our client for more than 48 hours. This inaccessible contact, extended to both his national and international lawyers as well as his family members, represents a severe infringement of the fundamental rights of Jorge Glas", reads a statement from the international lawyer of the former vice president Sonia Gabriela Vera García published on her account on the social network X, formerly Twitter.

The lawyer has justified her concern because her state of solitary confinement "violates the basic principles of Human Rights" and represents a "threat to her safety and well-being", questioning the "adherence" of the country's prison system to international laws and the own national legislation.

Vera García has also explained that "the seriousness of the situation" of Glas in the 'La Roca' penitentiary center is worse since the recent unauthorized exhibition of personal photographs within the facility itself.

"This incident, in conjunction with the documented history of violence and riots within the Ecuadorian prison system, including massacres and extrajudicial executions, reinforces the urgency of our demand. It highlights the vulnerability to which Jorge Glas is exposed, evidencing a significant risk to their life and well-being," added the lawyer.

This is why it has "demanded" the restitution of communication channels and unrestricted, uninterrupted and secure access to Glas, urging the authorities to act with transparency and correct measures that violate their rights or represent " inadequate standards".

The legal team has also requested access from independent international observers to verify the physical and psychological state of the former vice president, for which they also request a visit from a medical doctor designated by his own family.

"Immediate action is critical to avoid irreparable harm to Jorge Glas. The burden of guaranteeing his well-being and ensuring full respect for his inalienable rights falls unambiguously on the shoulders of the administration of the 'La Roca' penitentiary center, extending to the president, Daniel Noboa, and the Ecuadorian State as a whole," the lawyer said.

Finally, its representatives have pointed out that these requests "transcend legal obligations" to be located at "the heart of the country's ethical and moral commitments to Human Rights, justice and dignity", insisting on urgent action.

This statement comes after police and military from Ecuador forcibly entered the Mexican Embassy and detained Glas, who was a refugee and processing asylum due to the persecution and harassment he faces.

The former vice president, it should be remembered, had remained at the Mexican diplomatic headquarters since mid-December, where he entered citing fear for his safety and personal freedom. The Embassy welcomed him as a guest and his lawyers already reported weeks ago that they had submitted a formal request for political asylum.

This maneuver by Glas occurred after the National Police ordered his arrest to give a statement to the Prosecutor's Office in the case of possible embezzlement of public funds in the reconstruction of the province of Manabí after the 2016 earthquake, which left more than 670 dead. .

After the declaration of the Mexican ambassador in Quito as 'persona non grata' and her subsequent expulsion from the country, the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, announced that his country would finally grant political asylum to the man who was vice president of Ecuador with Rafael Correa during ten years, the trigger for this diplomatic crisis that has exploded with the entry of the Ecuadorian Police into the Mexican Embassy.