Ecuador: Ex-President Rafael Correa Could End up in Prison for Kidnapping

Rafael Correa could be facing imprisonment for his role in the kidnapping of an opposition politician.

PanAm Post - Vanessa Vallejo 21/06/2018

Rafael Correa allegedly issued an order to kidnap an opposition politician from Colombia, and bring him to Ecuador. Photo: PanAm Post

Beginning July 2, the former president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, must appear every fifteen days before the Supreme Court of Justice, as part of the precautionary measures that were approved on Monday by a criminal judge, after he was implicated in a scandal involving the kidnapping of ex-ambassador Fernando Balda.

In 2012, Balda, who was hiding in Bogota from the Ecuadorian authorities in order to avoid being arrested for alleged “political espionage,” was kidnapped by a group of Ecuadorian agents. The Colombian police were able to prevent the kidnapping, but later, on orders of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, he was sent to Ecuador and spent more than two years in jail, kidnapped by Correa.

Correa has had a rocky year, as he has publicly feuded with his handpicked predecessor, former vice president Lenin Moreno. With the notice of impending criminal charges, the rupture appears to have deepened further. Correa critics suggest that the Balda case is just one more episode in a troubling pattern during his tenure of targeting and silencing domestic critics, journalists, and opposition politicians.