Politics
Socialist on the run: Belgium refuses to extradite Ecuador's fugitive former president
Although an Ecuadorian court sentenced Correa to eight years in prison for political corruption during his 2013 election campaign, the former president was able to evade justice by moving to Belgium – his wife’s home country – shortly after leaving office in 2017
May 9, 2022 3:08pm
Updated: May 9, 2022 5:52pm
Just weeks after granting Ecuador’s former president Rafael Correa asylum, Belgian officials announced that Brussels would not extradite the socialist leader to his South American homeland where he currently faces a corruption-related prison sentence.
“The Belgian Justice Ministry now confirms… that it will not follow up Ecuador’s extradition request,” read a statement from Jus Cogens, the law firm representing Correa.
“Belgium will also refuse to cooperate with the Ecuadorian justice system in the framework of political processes,” it added.
Although an Ecuadorian court sentenced Correa to eight years in prison for political corruption during his 2013 election campaign, the former president was able to evade justice by moving to Belgium – his wife’s home country – shortly after leaving office in 2017.
Ivan Saquicela, president of Ecuador’s National Court of Justice, signed a request seeking Correa’s extradition from Belgium on April 22, assuring his Belgian counterparts that the process is not an example of “political persecution, but rather it is the decision of a sovereign state.”
"This is the first time that extradition has been requested and, accordingly, it is strictly in line with the law," Saquicela said.
"This is not about political persecution, but rather it is the decision of a sovereign state," he said later, at a virtual press conference. "A conviction for crimes of corruption has been ratified."
Two days earlier, however, Brussels granted Correa refugee status, France 24 reported.
"On April 19, 2022, the federal government of Belgium granted political asylum to the economist Rafael Correa Delgado, Ecuador's former President, thus recognizing the political persecution against him," a spokesperson in Brussels said.
Correa has long insisted that he is innocent and recently told AFP that Brussels’ decision to grant him asylum proved there was a political agenda behind his “persecution.”
“There is no justice in Ecuador, everything is corrupt,” the 59-year-old said in April.
Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Holguin fired back, however, and told reporters there was no political persecution in his country.
“Every citizen who goes through the Ecuadorian justice system has had the right to due process,” he said.
