Hearing in the case for four murdered Guayaquil boys is delayed as new evidence surfaces

National Court Judge Dennis Ugarte has postponed a preliminary hearing for 17 members of the Ecuadorian Air Force accused of the forced disappearance and murder of four minors in Las Malvinas, Guayaquil, in December. The judge accepted a request from the defense attorneys who say they need more time to analyze new forensic evidence presented by the prosecution.

A memorial for four Guayaquil boys was set up in January outside the National Court.

Ugarte said the delay will be short and the hearing will be rescheduled within two to three weeks.

The postponement also follows the announcement early last week that five of the defendants will testify for the prosecution in exchange for possible reduced sentences. According to the men’s attorneys, the five will testify that they followed orders from superiors in mistreating the so-called “Malvinas Four.”

Prosecutors claim that new evidence strengthens their case that a military patrol illegally detained the boys — ages 11 to 15 — and later murdered them.

Although defense attorneys for the accused admit the defendants detained and mistreated the boys, they insist the murders were carried out by a criminal gang after their release west of Guayaquil. The attorneys cite evidence from another case in which a photo and contact information of one of the murdered boys was allegedly found on the phone of Bryan Vicente A., alias “Momo,” leader of the Las Aguilas.

Attorney for three of the accused, Carlos Parra, says one of the 15-year-old victims was part of Las Aguilas and that the gang carried out the murders believing the boys had divulged information about the gang.

According to prosecutors and defense attorneys, the preliminary hearing will determine whether the trial will be divided between the kidnapping and disappearance of the victims, and their murders. The defense is insisting on a separate murder trial.

The families of the victims are pushing for a trial that includes both the kidnapping and murder charges and say they will stage a peaceful protest outside the Guayaquil court when the hearing takes place.

Although the defendants remain in custody, the family of the boys claims the government is pushing for their pre-trial release. Human rights attorney Fernando Bastias says the Air Force, backed by the government, is attempting an “institutional cover-up” to protect the armed forces. “It is clear that it is the strategy of the government of Daniel Noboa to glorify and protect the military in its so-called war on gangs,” Bastias says. “The fact is that the armed forces are deeply corrupted, involved in abuses and murders, and this case has the potential to reveal this.”