Belgian Lawyers Ask Ecuador for Safe-Conduct for Maria Duarte

On Tuesday, the Belgium team defending former President Rafael Correa assured that the Ecuadorian government must grant ex-minister Maria Duarte a safe-conduct so that she can leave for Argentina, where President Alberto Fernandez granted her diplomatic asylum.

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Law firm Ius Cogens considered "false" the statement made by the Ecuadorian Foreign Affairs Ministry according to which conventions regulating diplomatic asylum exclude the possibility of granting asylum to people convicted of common crimes.

"Given that Maria Duarte's trial was notoriously unfair, it is not for Ecuador, the persecuting state in the field of an asylum claim, to determine whether or not it has violated the applicant's fundamental rights," the Belgian lawyers said.

They also recalled that the Office of the Special Rapporteur for the Independence of Magistrates and Lawyers has questioned the Ecuadorian authorities and expressed its concern about the right to a fair trial in the "Bribes" case, which ended with the conviction of Correa, Duarte, and other senior officials.

For more than two years, former Minister Duarte and her minor son have remained "guests for humanitarian reasons" inside the Argentine Embassy in Quito.

On Dec. 1, Argentina's Foreign Affairs Minister Santiago Cafiero sent a letter to the Ecuadorian government confirming that the Fernandez administration had granted Duarte political asylum and asking it to grant her permission to leave its diplomatic headquarters.

In order for her to leave the embassy and go to the Simon Bolivia airport, the Ecuadorian authorities must respect the decision of the Argentine government, grant her a safe-conduct and not detain her for an eight-year prison sentence in a bribery case.