Household and pals of former journalist Fernando Villavicencio have referred to as for an investigation into who ordered his homicide.
An Ecuadorian courtroom has sentenced 5 individuals to between 12 and 34 years in jail for plotting to assassinate presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
Villavicencio, a journalist-turned-politician, was shot lifeless as he left a rally in August 2023. The killing of the anti-corruption activist left the nation reeling in a spiral of violence, with the federal government declaring a state of emergency.
The decision, learn out on Friday by Milton Maroto, one of many three judges of the courtroom, could be appealed by each the prosecution and the defence. The trial started on the finish of June.
Prosecutors accused a minimum of two of the defendants of belonging to Los Lobos, one in all 22 legal gangs designated as “terrorist” by President Daniel Noboa in January. The suspects have been additionally accused of getting ties to the federal government of former President Rafael Correa.
In accordance with the Lawyer Basic’s Workplace, Carlos Edwin Angulo Lara, often known as ‘El Invisible’, gave the order to kill Villavicencio from his cell, whereas one other suspect, Laura Dayanara Castillo, was in control of logistics.
Each Angulo and Castillo have been sentenced to 34 years and eight months.
The others, Erick Ramírez, Víctor Flores and Alexandra Chimbo, have been sentenced to 12 years in jail.
Villavicencio, whose journalism uncovered corruption and connections between organized crime and politicians, had lengthy confronted threats.
Prosecutors are conducting a separate investigation to find out who ordered the killing.
One of many hitmen died on the scene of the Villavicencio homicide and 7 different suspects, largely Colombian residents, have been killed in October whereas in pretrial detention.
Seven different suspects have been subsequently arrested, one in all whom died and one other was acquitted.
The remaining 5 went to trial.
Who ordered the homicide?
Villavicencio’s household and pals have denounced the a number of delays within the case and have demanded an investigation into who ordered his homicide.
A witness who testified in the course of the trial claimed there was a $200,000 bounty on Villavicencio’s head as a result of he campaigned in opposition to gangs and corruption.
The witness additionally accused the suspects of working for individuals linked to Correa, who’s in exile after being convicted on corruption fees in 2020.
The previous president, who lives in Belgium, denies any hyperlink to the homicide.
Verónica Sarauz, Villavicencio’s widow, had requested the judges earlier on Friday in a publish on X to use the complete weight of the legislation to the accused.
In a separate publish on X, Villavicencio’s daughter Amanda wrote: “We have to know the entire fact and ensure this does not occur once more.”
Outdoors the courtroom, kin and supporters chanted slogans and held indicators studying “jail for cowardly murderers” and photographs of Villavicencio.
Since 2023, virtually a dozen politicians have been assassinated in Ecuador.
As soon as a peaceable nation, Ecuador is witnessing an unprecedented wave of violence linked to drug trafficking.
With ports on the Pacific, the nation serves as a transit level for cocaine produced in Colombia and Peru and despatched to the US and Europe.
The murder price in Ecuador, a rustic of about 17 million individuals, rose from six per 100,000 inhabitants in 2018 to 47 per 100,000 final yr.