Last Sunday, an Ecuadorian judge ordered the former president to appear every 15 days at the Secretariat of the National Court of Justice.
The former president of Ecuador Lenín Moreno confirmed that he will request political asylum in Paraguay, in the midst of the judicial process against him for the ‘Sinohydro’ case.
Moreno, in an interview with Ecuavisa, commented that he is consulting with his lawyers about the actions to follow, however, he indicated that “in principle yes” will request asylum in Paraguay, the country where he currently resides and from where he holds the position of Commissioner of the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) for disability issues.
Moreno, along with 36 other people, is being investigated in this case, also known in the media as ‘Ina Papers’, in which an alleged corruption network is investigated around the construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project. According to preliminary investigations, those involved they would have received about 76 million dollars in bribes from the Sinohydro company, the builder of this work.
Between last Friday and Sunday, the hearing to formulate charges was held, where the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) accused the 37 people of the alleged crime of bribery.
Although the FGE requested preventive detention for 23 of the defendants and house arrest for the remaining 14 —over 65 years of age—, including Moreno, the national judge Luis Adrián Rojas ordered alternative measures.
Moreno and his wife, Rocío González, also involved, were ordered to presentation every 15 days in the Secretariat of the National Court of Justice of Ecuador. The same measure was issued for Xavier M., another of the defendants.
Regarding this measure, which would force the ex-president to be constantly traveling from Asunción to Quito, Moreno expressed his concern about the “mistreatment” that these trips would cause him in the recent interview.
«I have been hospitalized twice (in Paraguay), something that is not known in Ecuador,” said the former president, while explaining that on one of those occasions his hospitalization was due to “intense bleeding from the bladder.”
For the rest of the defendants, the judge ordered their presentation every eight days in the same institution. They are also prohibited from leaving the country and must use the electronic shackle as a surveillance device.