Minister names a ‘corrupt’ judge and prosecutor, claims their early releases endanger the public

Interior Minister John Reimberg followed through Thursday with his threat to “name names” of corrupt judges and prosecutors. “I don’t see a problem with revealing judges and prosecutors who release violent criminals from custody,” he said on his X account. “Since it is the public that is endangered by these careless releases, I think the public should know who is responsible.”

Interior Minister John Reimberg

Reimberg claimed that state prosecutor Nicolás Pulencio and Judge Gustavo Román García participated in a “scheme” to keep three kidnapping suspects out prison pending trial. The bodies of victims were found in an abandoned Guayaquil well three days after they were abducted.

According to Reimberg, Pulencio and García planned on Friday to release a fourth kidnapping suspect, said to be the ringleader in the plot, who is still in prison. “In all these cases, the prosecutor recommended the release and the judge obeyed the orders. We will investigate to see if money changed hands in these transaction.”

In the three releases, illness was cited as the reason the suspects should not be incarcerated. “I am touched by the court’s humanitarian concern for the health of the criminals,” he said. “I only wish this concern was shown for the victims and their families.”

On Monday, Reimberg said he stood “shoulder-to-shoulder” with the National Police who make arrests of dangerous criminal suspects only to see them released by the court. “Repeatedly, we see these people commit more crimes, even murders. Then, they are arrested again, and again they are released. This is insane.”

Reimberg continued: “There have been 104,000 people apprehended by police since the internal armed conflict was declared in January 2024 and today only 5% of them are in prison. How can we ask police to arrest criminals when the people they arrest always go free?”

Following Reimberg’s comments, the Attorney General’s office asked that the Interior Ministry “act responsibly with the information that is disseminated to the public.”

The National Judicial Council, issued a similar statement in response to Reimberg’s Monday comments. “Every case of alleged judicial impropriety or corruption should be investigated and if the those accused are determined to have committed crimes, they should be punished,” the statement said. “However, the concept of innocence until proven guilty applies to judges as well as others accused of crimes.”

Several prosecutors responded anonymously to Reimberg. One, interviewed on Radio Quito, called the minister “a fool who does not understand the judicial process.” About the releases of suspects in 2024, he claimed many of the arrests were based on “flimsy” evidence. “There were almost 200 arrests made on the basis of a tattoo. This is not something you can prosecute in any court in the world,” he said.