Ecuador: The defense team of ex-Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas celebrates a ruling that deems his arrest within Mexico’s embassy in Quito unlawful.
Nevertheless, attorney Sonia Vera Garcia promised on Friday to file an appeal against the decision, which maintained her client’s incarceration.
The decision was made in response to a writ of habeas corpus filed earlier this week on behalf of the former vice president by Francisco Hidalgo, a member of Glas’s left-wing political party, Citizen Revolution, who claimed he had been wrongfully jailed.
There have been continuous international tensions surrounding Glas’s arrest. On April 5, a top diplomat attempting to block their entry was shot by Ecuadorian police as they broke through the Mexican embassy’s barrier.
A three-person panel in Ecuador said on Friday that the embassy-related detention had been “illegal and arbitrary.”
According to Judge Monica Heredia, “the detention became illegal without authorization from the head of the Foreign Ministry and political affairs at the Mexican embassy in Ecuador.”
Foreign law shields consulates and embassies from local law enforcement meddling. According to theory, ambassadors can carry out delicate jobs without worrying about facing backlash from their host nation according to the “rule of inviolability.”
However, vulnerable public personalities like Glas have also resorted to embassies as a means of temporary safety from arrest, given that local police are not allowed inside without authorization.
Glas was found guilty twice on counts of corruption. In 2017 and 2020, he received prison sentences of six and eight years, respectively.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry claimed just hours before Glas was arrested that he had been given political asylum. Glas had taken refuge in the embassy of Mexico in Quito since December.
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