President Guillermo Lasso also reacted to the sentence of the policeman Santiago Olmedo, who this Wednesday received three years and four months in prison for the crime of overreaching in the execution of an act of service.
“It is outrageous and incomprehensible that a police officer, like Corporal Santiago Olmedo, who was protecting the life of a teenager, should be sentenced. The National Police must have the guarantees to fulfill their duties,” Lasso wrote on his Twitter account.
He added in the same message that “we will give him all the necessary support to regain his freedom.”
It is outrageous and incomprehensible that a police officer, like Corporal Santiago Olmedo, who protected the life of a teenager, should be sentenced. The @PoliceEcuador You must have the guarantees to fulfill your duties. We will give you all the necessary support to regain your freedom.
— Guillermo Lasso (@LassoGuillermo) January 19, 2022
The events occurred on June 11 when the police went to the scene of an assault, and while two armed criminals tried to attack a minor. The agent killed the two involved and was charged with excessive use of force.
Before the media, the agent declared today that he feels “concerned” but “convinced” that he acted “well” and that the procedure was “correct”, in such a way that the minor he defended from an assault in June today he is alive and “walks freely”.
“It is unusual”: Government Minister rejects police sentence Santiago Olmedo
Olmedo will continue to carry out his duties as long as there is no final judgment. The sentence that was applied to him is reduced, taking into account that he might have reached between 10 and 13 years in prison.
Hugo Espín Tobar, his lawyer, assured that they will appeal the sentence because, in his opinion, “innocence should have been ratified”, given that the public agent acted in defense of third parties and himself.
#Police protects a minor who is assaulted and is now being investigated. #SantiagoOlmedoIsInnocent, protected the life of a minor, that of his companions and his own. Armed subjects attempted once morest their lives.@LassoGuillermo @ BrendaCV70 @jcarreraandrade @luisantonio_r @PoliceEcuador pic.twitter.com/Yk4EZPXKxX
— DefenseEc (@DefenseEcu) July 27, 2021
And he said that the judges determined that there are no aggravating circumstances and considered “how the facts occurred”, taking into account that the life of a minor was at stake.
The good ones are more and we are going to continue working for the well-being of the community”, Olmedo emphasized at the end of the diligence in the Ecuadorian capital, where he described the sentence as “unfair” and clarified that he will continue fighting this “battle”, according to EFE .