An Ecuadorian court on Friday sentenced two of the five people accused of the material murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was shot dead by Colombian hitmen on August 9 last year as he left an election rally in a busy area of Quito, to 34 years and 8 months in prison.
After eight days of hearings, Carlos Edwin AL (‘El Invisible’), leader of a faction of the criminal gang Los Lobos, and Laura Dayanara CV ‘La Flaca’ received an aggravated conviction sentence for being considered indirect perpetrators (with control of the crime) and “co-perpetrators”, respectively, of the murder of Villavicencio, the State Attorney General’s Office reported in a statement.
The judges who heard the case also imposed on the two convicted men a fine of “1,000 basic unified salaries,” some $460,000, plus a payment for “comprehensive reparation” of $100,000, most of which must be paid to the private prosecutors, the source added.
The court also sentenced Erik Marcelo RP, Víctor Alfonso F. and Alexandra Elizabeth CF to twelve years in prison, as they were considered accomplices to the murder, in addition to a fine of 156,400 dollars (340 basic salaries) and 33,000 dollars each as compensation.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, ‘El Invisible’ was held in Latacunga prison, some 90 kilometres south of Quito, on the day of the crime, but investigations indicate that he gave the order to shoot Johan Castillo, who was shot dead by police following firing at Villavicencio.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Laura Dayanara CV ‘La Flaca’ was in charge of supplying money, weapons, motorcycles, vehicles, t-shirts and other supplies to those who participated in the attack, with the help of Erick Marcelo RP and Víctor Alfonso F.
For her part, Alexandra Elizabeth CF has been accused of being at the political rally in Quito and giving notice to the hitmen to carry out the crime.
Hitmen killed
Villavicencio was assassinated by a group of seven Colombian hitmen eleven days before the first round of the extraordinary general elections, called to complete the term (2021-2025) of former president Guillermo Lasso, who had cut his term short.
The seven Colombian men accused of participating in the murder are dead: the shooter was shot dead following firing the shots and the other six were hanged in the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, where they had been held.
Another suspect also died in similar circumstances in a Quito prison, leaving only five defendants to be tried as the perpetrators of the deadly attack.
Following the trial hearing, the lawyer for Villavicencio’s family, Hugo Espín, explained that the sentence of more than 34 years in prison once morest the two main defendants is only “a first step” in the overall investigation of the crime.
“Other trials will be initiated” to clarify the truth, the lawyer added, stating that Ecuador “needs to find out who is the intellectual author” in this case.
For example, he said that the hearings that were held revealed the existence of a supposed “mega criminal structure”, as well as important omissions by authorities.
Espín wondered regarding the fact that the order to shoot was given from a maximum security prison via a mobile phone using broadband internet, something that is prohibited in such facilities.
Missing intellectual authors
Alexandra Villavicencio, sister of the murdered political leader, said that justice had been done today, but stressed that “just as the material murderers are judged, the intellectual authors and all those hidden behind this crime should also be judged.”
“No one is invisible” and all those responsible must be brought to justice, because “this country needs to inaugurate justice,” added Alexandra Villavicencio.
For their part, Tamia and Amanda Villavicencio, daughters of the journalist and politician, said in a statement that the sentence received by the five accused “is the least that the Ecuadorian justice system can do for a man like Fernando, who sacrificed his life for his country.”
“We will not forget the omissions of the police, who ignored the request for reinforcements, nor the seven hitmen killed in the custody of the SNAI (the state penitentiary agency), nor the officials of the ECU-911 (emergency service) who gave the location of our father to his murderers,” they said.
“The list is long, but above all we will never forget those who persecuted him for more than fifteen years and who formed that dark narco-political marriage to end his life,” they concluded.
Quito / EFE
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2024-07-14 11:36:09
