Former President Bucaram in police custody at Guayaquil clinic following trial suspension
Abdalá Bucaram remains in intensive care at Borja Clinic in Guayaquil under police surveillance. The COVID-19 Tests case tribunal ordered his arrest upon discharge from the hospital.
Bucaram in intensive care: trial suspended for sixth consecutive time
Former Ecuadorian President Abdalá Bucaram, prosecuted for alleged organised crime, is being held in police custody at Borja Clinic in Guayaquil, according to expreso.ec. He was admitted to the intensive care unit on the evening of 2 September 2026.
The COVID-19 Tests case tribunal ordered the surveillance measure after declaring the sixth attempt to reinstate the oral sentencing hearing, scheduled for the afternoon of 3 September, unsuccessful. The magistrates instructed the Police Search Block to verify the health status of the former head of state and execute his immediate arrest upon hospital discharge.
The police report specifies that clinic management formally certified Bucaram's admission to the critical care area before the judicial proceeding. Initially, the assigned officer could not verify the presence of the former president in person; the medical centre's administration confirmed the information via teleconference to the judges in hearing. Following the session suspension, the officer obtained authorisation to enter the hospitalisation area and directly verified the presence of the defendant in the intensive care unit.
Upon confirming the absence of the former head of state for health reasons, the magistrates declared the session void and activated protocols for location and custody. Bucaram's wife distributed photographs from the hospital and publicly requested prayers for his health.
The inability to conclude the judicial proceeding is due to a series of postponements recorded since July 2026. This is the sixth occasion on which the sentencing hearing has been unable to take place, without the tribunal having succeeded so far in gathering the conditions to issue a ruling in the case linked to alleged irregularities in the acquisition of tests during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Google News EC — Guayaquil