Two detained for murder of prosecutor in Ecuador while investigating former Rafael Correa official for leaking classified information

The murder of the public prosecutor César Suárez, involved in the investigation into the takeover of a television channel by an armed group in Guayaquil, has once again shocked Ecuador and destroyed the feeling of a certain calm with which the country It was trying to resume its usual rhythm after last week’s bloody wave of violence, attacks, kidnappings and riots.

They were about twenty shots those who hit, according to witnesses, the car in which Suárez was traveling this Wednesday in the early afternoon. The Prosecutor’s Office was recognized for having dealt with cases of corruption in hospitals during the covid-19 pandemic and now also with the most violent episode of the series of violent actions that occurred on January 9th in various areas of the country.

This Thursday, the authorities announced the arrest of two suspects. “We have arrested 2 suspects involved in the murder of the public prosecutor César Suárez, in Guayaquil, at the end of an investigative procedure which allowed us to identify the alleged participation in the criminal act”, wrote the general commander of the police, César, in the his account X (formerly Twitter). Zapata.

A rifle, two pistols, troughs and two vehicles were seized from those arrested.

At the same time, the State Attorney General announced that it had opened an investigation against the former deputy and former Interior Minister José Serrano during the government of Rafael Correa (2007-2017) for alleged dissemination of confidential information.

They made this decision “because of ‘his revelations’ on sensitive issues”, referring to a publication that Serrano made on his X account about the murder of prosecutor Suárez.

Serrano highlighted on social networks that Suárez had asked for information on the environment in which José Adolfo Macías Villamar “Fito”, the leader of “Los Choneros” who escaped in circumstances not yet clarified from the regional prison of Guayaquil, found himself.

According to the Public Prosecutor, Serrano made “revelations on sensitive issues”.

In that message, the former Correismo official underlines that we need to find out who the “rogue infiltrator” is, specifies the website of the Ecuadorian network Ecuavisa.

Most of the publication was censored by the Prosecutor’s Office, which called on citizens “not to spread speculation that could benefit criminals or people wanted by the law,” according to the newspaper. The universefrom Guayaquil, and other local media.

The crime of disseminating information for restricted circulation is punished with imprisonment from one to three years. Among the causes that determine the guilt of this infringement is the sharing of “information produced by the Prosecutor’s Office as part of a prior investigation”.

In the events related to the prison crisis that Ecuador is going through, such as the escape of alias Fito from the regional prison and the murder of foreign prisoners for the crime of the former presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, Serrano confirmed the veracity of these events to the authorities officials.

Non-custodial

The prosecutor murdered this Wednesday was in recent days dealing with the attack on a television channel by a group linked to drug trafficking, which occurred on Tuesday last week in Guayaquil.

A few days ago Suárez had interrogated the 13 detainees who broke into the studios of the TC Televisión channel with an armed force and held its workers hostage for several hours during a live broadcast, an act that the Police attributed to the criminal gang “Los Choneros”.

Despite the delicate case, images of which went around the world, the magistrate reported it this week he had no police protectionL. The Prosecutor’s Office acknowledged that at the time of the attack he did not have an escort because the hearing he would have had would have been electronic, even though he normally had security.

The absence of an escort for Suárez was confirmed to EFE by a relative of the man murdered in front of the doors of the Guayaquil morgue, where the body was transferred after remaining prostrate for about an hour and surrounded by blood at the interior of the vehicle.

“They sold him,” said the source, who wouldn’t give his name for fear of retaliation, though he noted that they had him leave the house with a seemingly unexpected call to go somewhere he didn’t want. reveal.

In that transfer He was chased by another car from where he was shot at close range. and who then appears to have appeared cremated in another part of the city.

Another blow in the midst of the “internal war”

Although organized crime attacks against judges, prosecutors, politicians and local authorities have intensified compared to the previous year, such as the murder of Fernando Villavicencio last August, this occurred in the midst of the “internal war” declared by the government of Daniel. and highlights the vulnerability of justice officials in this context.

Already on Tuesday a prison officer was murdered in the Amazonian province of Sucumbíos, on the border with Colombia.

Last week, Noboa declared criminals linked to drug trafficking groups “terrorists” and ordered the militarization of the entire country.

Source: EFE e Clarion