Ecuador Delays Trial of Indigenous Leader Leonidas Iza

On Monday morning, the trial hearing began against Leonidas Iza, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), accused of the alleged crime of paralyzing a public service during the protests of last June.

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The procedure was held in the Palace of Justice of Latacunga, Cotopaxi, with a strong police contingent. The judge in charge, Paola Bedón, said that the hearing was reserved because it is a crime against the State. That is to say, only the parties to the proceedings may be present.

The indigenous leader was arrested in the early morning of June 14, 2022, the day after the beginning of the national strike. During the in flagrante delicto hearing, the Prosecutor's Office accused Iza of paralyzing the normal circulation of transportation through violent acts. Leonidas Iza rejected the judicial process against him and ratified that he would take action at the international level.

"Such a lie cannot be accepted in an attempt to blame a citizen. No matter how much justice they say, I cannot accept that they have not read me my rights. I was kidnapped with six trucks of military and police in Cotopaxi. My rights were read to me in Pichincha and not where I was detained," he said during an interview with Sonorama.

Ecuador court postpones the trial of Leonidas Iza, leader of the last strike against the government.

United Nations Rapporteur for Judicial Independence, Diego García, last June 30, commented on his concern for the circumstances of Leonidas Iza's detention and for a condemnatory sentence that could be dictated this same day, being a direct procedure.

At the moment, the judge ordered a recess after the parties said that there are elements of evidence that have not been evacuated, near to 80 percent of the requests that have not been sent.