President of Ecuador Denounced for Omission in Murder Case

On Tuesday, the President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, was denounced before the Public Prosecutor's Office for the alleged crime of willful omission in the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, last August 9, at the exit of a campaign event in Quito.

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The request of the aspirant to the Assembly for the Amigo movement, Édison Carrillo, includes the Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata and the commander of the Police, Fausto Salinas, for alleged negligence committed in the security of Fernando Villavicencio.

In his request, Carrillo also asks for the investigation of each one of the officials and police personnel who were in charge of the security of the presidential candidate and of the people who were at the political rally where the Construye movement candidate died.

According to the complainant, on the day of his assassination, the presidential candidate had a 97 percent chance of suffering an attack, for which he claimed that explanations should be given for the actions and procedures taken by the agents at the scene of the events.

Édison Carrillo also asked the authorities to clarify the death of the only direct suspect of the assassination.

The candidate to the Assembly commented that this presumed fraudulent omission will result in a State crime and assured that he will take the case to international Human Rights organizations.

Carrillo affirmed that he backed up his accusation against President Lasso with videos of the moment in which candidate Fernando Villavicencio was murdered.

Finally, the aspiring legislator said that his complaint is directed to Guillermo Lasso because he is the representative of the Executive who must guarantee the rights of citizens, and because he is responsible for having appointed the Minister of the Interior.