Court calls Glas’ Mexican embassy arrest ‘illegal and arbitrary’ but rules he must remain in prison

Ecuador’s National Court of Justice ruled Friday that the seizure and arrest of former vice president Jorge Glas from inside Mexico’s embassy in Quito was “illegal and arbitrary.” The three judges, however, upheld Glas’ ongoing imprisonment, saying he cannot be released since he has not completed previous sentences and has other charges pending against him.

Former vice president Jorge Glas during his transfer to a Guayaquil prison.

Glas’ lawyers applauded the court’s decision regarding the arrest inside Mexico’s embassy but said it was disappointed that Glas was not released. “We appreciate the court’s opinion about the illegality of the arrest and we thank the international community for its support,” attorney Sonia Vera wrote on the social media platform X. “The vice president’s detention being declared arbitrary is a step forward.”

She added: “Unfortunately, Jorge remains detained and we will appeal until we achieve his freedom.”

The ruling comes after Francisco Hidalgo,  a member of Glas’s leftist political party, Citizens Revolution, submitted a writ of habeas corpus earlier in the week on the former vice president’s behalf, arguing he had been unlawfully detained.

Glas’s arrest had been the subject of ongoing international tensions. On April 5, Ecuadorian police stormed the Mexican embassy, scaling its fence and pointing a gun at a top diplomat who sought to bar their entrance.

In its ruling on Friday, a three-member tribunal in Ecuador found that the arrest on embassy grounds had indeed been “illegal and arbitrary”. Judge Monica Heredia wrote that “without authorization from the head of the Foreign Ministry and political affairs at the Mexican embassy in Ecuador, the detention became illegal”.

International law protects embassies and consulates from the interference of local law enforcement. This “rule of inviolability” theoretically allows diplomats to conduct sensitive work without fear of reprisal from their host country.

But embattled public figures like Glas have also turned to embassies to seek temporary refuge from arrest, knowing that local police are not supposed to enter without permission.

Glas was twice convicted on corruption-related charges. He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 and eight years in 2020.

In the hours before his arrest, Mexico’s Foreign Ministry announced it had granted political asylum to Glas, who had been sheltering in its embassy in Quito since December.

But the embassy raid ignited a full-blown spat between Mexico and Ecuador. In its wake, Mexico severed diplomatic ties and recalled its embassy staff from Ecuador. Countries around Latin America, as well as the Organization of American States (OAS), have also denounced the police raid.

But the government of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has sought to defend the raid as authorized by executive decree. It argued that Glas should not be eligible for political asylum, as his convictions were not the result of persecution, and his conviction was based on common crimes of corruption and personal enrichment.

But the three-member tribunal on Friday said the government’s defense of the raid “lacks legal basis”.

Still, while the tribunal ruled that the arrest itself was illegal, it decided Glas should remain behind bars, given his prior convictions. “This tribunal cannot modify the sentence,” Judge Heredia said.

Glas is currently serving his prison term in Guayaquil, where he is conducting a hunger strike in protest. He was hospitalized earlier in the week following an apparent suicide attempt.

On Thursday, Mexico filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice to expel Ecuador from the United Nations over the embassy raid — at least until the country delivers a formal apology for its violations of international law.
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Credit: Al Jazeera