Three police officers in Ecuador were detained on Monday by residents of the Andean province of Cotopaxi and allegedly judged under Indigenous justice, following accusations of an attempted assassination of their former presidential candidate and leader, Leonidas Iza. The incident prompted the Office of the Attorney General to call for dialogue and clarify that the three officers were assisting in the proceedings of a prior investigation.

RELATED: Ecuador: Indigenous Movement Denounces Assassination Attempt Against Leonidas Iza

The Public Prosecutor’s Office did not address the accusations made by Indigenous communities, only stating that the officers were working on other investigations.

“The Prosecutor’s Office respects and recognizes the norms and traditions of Indigenous communities, including conflict resolution within their own territories. However, it reiterates that it is essential to establish mechanisms for dialogue between Indigenous justice and ordinary justice,” the office said in a statement.

The officers were apprehended in Toacazo, the hometown of Leonidas Iza, following accusations by the Indigenous and Peasant Movement of Cotopaxi (MICC) of an “attempted assassination” targeting the activist and former president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), the country’s largest Indigenous organization.

Iza took to social media to denounce what he described as ongoing harassment by police since the previous Friday, which involved surveillance, filming, and photographing him. He claimed that during the operation, the officers nearly ran him over.

Speaking later at a press conference, Iza detailed that the vehicle was traveling at high speed and that he narrowly avoided being hit because the police had allegedly hired a young man to drive. The driver reportedly stopped upon recognizing him. Iza also asserted that the officers had instructed the driver to run him over.

Nonetheless, the former leader stated that the surveillance of him and his family had been ongoing during his time leading Conaie (2021–2025), but he believed that this “systematic persecution” would end with the conclusion of his term at the organization.

Iza led Conaie until August 9, when new leader Marlon Vargas received the ceremonial staff after winning the organization’s internal elections held on July 20. Iza also ran in this year’s presidential elections, which were won by Daniel Noboa, finishing in third place.

The Indigenous leader asserted that “the immediate effect of implementing the Intelligence Law is that it allows these things to happen.”

The Intelligence Law is one of three controversial legal reforms pushed by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, which were recently partially and temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court pending a ruling on lawsuits challenging the law’s constitutionality.

The law has been strongly criticized by various sectors of society, including Conaie, as it is seen to violate fundamental rights by allowing intelligence agents to assume false identities and enabling the State to request user data from telecommunications companies.

During Iza’s tenure, relations with President Noboa’s administration were tense, and his movement even supported correísta candidate Luisa González in the presidential runoff election.

So far, the government has not commented on the assassination attempt or the detention of the three police officers.

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