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News > Ecuador

Ecuador: Ola Bini Released as Court Grants Habeas Corpus

  • Ola Bini was present during the hearing for his habeas corpus on Thursday at the Provincial court of Pinchincha.

    Ola Bini was present during the hearing for his habeas corpus on Thursday at the Provincial court of Pinchincha. | Photo: Free Ola Bini

Published 20 June 2019
Opinion

Bini has been accused and imprisoned without charges, by the Ecuadorean General Attorney’s office for the alleged crime of attacks against information systems.

Swedish programmer and digital privacy activist Ola Bini was released from jail on Thursday evening after Ecuador's Provincial Court of Pichincha granted him the habeas corpus request.

RELATED:
Swedish Programmer Ola Bini Denied Bail by Ecuadorean Court

“I'm not free yet, I’ll be out of prison tomorrow but I won't be free as long as this illegitimate investigation is going on, as long as this illegal persecution continues I won't be free. But we will prove my innocence,” Bini said after the hearing was over. 

The Swedish programmer’s defense presented the legal resource which requires a person to be brought before a court in order for the legality of his arrest to be determined. 

After the hearing, in which the judge Yadira Proaño who had to justify his arrest was not present, the voting of the magistrates was two in favor and one against, as the ruling read "there was an infringement on his right to freedom." 

Bini has been accused, without charges, by the Ecuadorean General Attorney’s office for the alleged crime of attacks against information systems (hacking). Yet the defense team has informed that they still haven’t been informed of said charges after 71 days of detention.

"Ola Bini's presumption of innocence has to be respected", said defense attorney, Carlos Soria, prior to the hearing. 

The open source developer was arrested on April 11, just a few hours after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He was initially accused of participating in the "assault on the integrity" of computer systems and later, on April 13, he was placed in 90-day preventative custody, without formal charges.

Bini has reiterated many times that he is “not a hacker” but a “programmer.” 

Meanwhile, the United Nations (U.N.) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) have denounced the Swede’s detainment as arbitrary, saying the Ecuadorean government has nothing to connect him to Assange or to any crime.

According to the Associated Press, United States (U.S.) investigators have received permission from Ecuador to question the Swedish national on June 27.

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