An Ecuadorian court on Friday sentenced two of the five people accused of the material murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was shot dead by Colombian hitmen on August 9 last year as he left an election rally in a busy area of Quito, to 34 years and 8 months in prison.
According to the criteria of
After eight days of hearings, Carlos Edwin AL (‘El Invisible’), leader of a faction of the criminal gang Los Lobos, and Laura Dayanara CV ‘La Flaca’ received a sentence aggravated sentence for being considered indirect perpetrators (with control of the act) and “co-perpetrators”, respectively, of the murder of Villavicencio, the State Attorney General’s Office reported in a statement.
César Palma (right), lawyer for Laura Castillo, alias “La Flaca”, one of the five alleged murderers of former Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
Photo:
The judges who heard the case also imposed a fine of “1,000 basic unified salaries” on the two convicted men, some 460,000 dollars, plus a payment for “comprehensive reparation” of 100,000 dollars, most of which must be paid to the private prosecutors, the source added.
The court also sentenced Erik Marcelo RP, Victor Alfonso F. and Alexandra Elizabeth CF to twelve years in prison, being considered accomplices to the murder, in addition to a fine of 156,400 dollars (340 basic salaries) and 33,000 dollars each as compensation.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, ‘El Invisible’ was held in Latacunga prison, some 90 kilometres south of Quito, on the day of the crime, but investigations indicate that he gave the order to shoot Johan Castillo, who was shot dead by police after firing at Villavicencio.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Laura Dayanara CV ‘La Flaca’ was in charge of supplying money, weapons, motorcycles, vehicles, t-shirts and other supplies to those who participated in the attack, with the help of Erick Marcelo RP and Víctor Alfonso F.
For her part, Alexandra Elizabeth CF has been accused of being at the political rally in Quito and giving notice to the hitmen to carry out the crime.
Hitmen killed
Villavicencio was assassinated by a group of seven Colombian hitmen eleven days before the first round of the extraordinary general elections, called to complete the term (2021-2025) of former president Guillermo Lasso, who had cut his term short.
The seven Colombian men who were accused of participating in the execution of the murder are dead: the shooter was killed after firing the shots and the other six were hanged in the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, where they had been held.
Another suspect also died in similar circumstances in a Quito prison, leaving only five defendants to be tried as the perpetrators of the deadly attack.
File photo of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio speaking during a campaign rally, minutes before being assassinated, on August 9, 2023, in Quito (Ecuador).
Photo:
After the trial hearing, the lawyer for Villavicencio’s family, Hugo Espín, explained that the sentence of more than 34 years in prison against the two main defendants is only “a first step” in the overall investigation of the crime.
“Other trials will begin” to clarify the truth, The lawyer added, stating that Ecuador “needs to find out who is the intellectual author” in this case.
For example, he said that the hearings that were held revealed the existence of an alleged “mega criminal structure” as well as important omissions by the authorities.
Espín wondered about the fact that the order to shoot was given from a maximum security prison via a mobile phone using broadband internet, something that is prohibited in such facilities.
Missing intellectual authors
Alexandra Villavicencio, sister of the murdered political leader, said that justice had been done today, but stressed that “just as the material murderers are judged, so should the intellectual authors and all those hidden behind this crime.”
“No one is invisible” and all those responsible must be brought to justice, because “this country needs to inaugurate justice,” added Alexandra Villavicencio.
For their part, Tamia and Amanda Villavicencio, daughters of the journalist and politician, said in a statement that the sentence received by the five accused “is the least that the Ecuadorian justice system can do for a man like Fernando, who sacrificed his life for his country.”
“We will not forget the omissions of the police, who ignored the request for reinforcements, nor the seven hitmen killed in the custody of the SNAI (the state penitentiary agency), nor the officials of the ECU-911 (emergency service) who gave the location of our father to his murderers,” they said.
“The list is long, but above all we will never forget those who pursued him for more than fifteen years and who formed that dark narco-political marriage to end his life,” they concluded.
EFE
#Ecuador #sentences #defendants #years #prison #murder #Fernando #Villavicencio