Noboa defends student who ran over thieves, says he’ll issue a presidential pardon if necessary

President Daniel Noboa expressed “outrage” Thursday following the arrest of a Guayaquil university student charged with wrongful death for running over thieves who had robbed him at gunpoint. One of the thieves died as a result of his injuries.

“We should be punishing the criminals, not the those who act in self-defense to protect themselves and their friends,” Noboa said.

According to police, 22-year-old Yuliano Salazar and three friends were sitting in his parked car in Guayaquil on the night of August 7 when they were surrounded by four men brandishing pistols. After the thieves stole cell phones, cash and jewelry, they attempted to stop Salazar from leaving the scene. Salazar accelerated, running over the thieves and their motorcycles.

Following an initial investigation, Salazar, who suffers from a physical disability, was arrested for wrongful death and is being held in Litoral Penitentiary. Friends and family of Salazar have maintained daily protests of his detention at the provincial court center in Guayaquil.

In his comments, Noboa said there is “something wrong with a judicial system that attacks the victims and not the criminals,” and ordered the government’s legal secretary to provide “special” legal assistance for Salazar’s defense. “I will not be a passive witness to the incoherence of a system that prosecutes a young man for defending his life and that of his companions,” he said. “Maybe there is something wrong with the law that applies to this case and if this is true it needs to be changed immediately. Self-defense should never be punished.”

Noboa appealed to the judge handling the case to find “alternative measures” to prison for Salazar while the investigation proceeds.

“If this case is not satisfactorily resolved in this young man’s favor, rest assured that I will grant him a presidential pardon,” Noboa said. “It is an outrage that he is in prison.”