Ecuador begins process seeking extradition of ex-President Correa from Belgium

By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO – The president of Ecuador’s Nationwide Justice Courtroom on Friday mentioned he had signed an extradition request for the nation’s ex-President Rafael Correa, who lives in Belgium, in search of his return to Ecuador to serve an eight-year jail time period for bribery.

An Ecuadorian courtroom sentenced Correa to eight years in jail in 2020, accusing him – together with different officers – of being behind wrongful expenses to contractors in a transfer to finance electoral campaigns for his political motion between 2012 and 2016.

Courtroom president Ivan Saquicela signed an order requesting Correa’s extradition based mostly on an extradition settlement in power between Ecuador and Belgium and different worldwide agreements, he instructed Reuters in a phone interview.

“That is the primary time that extradition has been requested and, accordingly, it's strictly in keeping with the legislation,” Saquicela instructed Reuters, dismissing claims by Correa that extradition requests had been made beforehand.

The extradition request will subsequent transfer to Ecuador’s overseas ministry, who should formally ask Belgium to extradite Correa.

Correa, who led Ecuador from 2007 to 2017 and has lived in Belgium since he left energy, has denied the accusations, describing the case in opposition to him as one among political persecution led by his opponents.

Correa dismissed the extradition request as “one other scrap of paper” and known as Saquicela a clown in a collection of Twitter messages.

Correa has requested political asylum from Belgium which, based on the previous president’s press staff, was accepted by the federal government in Brussels.

“On April 19, 2022, the federal authorities of Belgium granted political asylum to the economist Rafael Correa Delgado, Ecuador’s former President, thus recognizing the political persecution in opposition to him,” the staff mentioned in a press release.

Neither Ecuador’s nor Belgium’s overseas ministries responded to requests for remark. A spokesperson of Belgium’s Commissioner for refugees declined to remark.