Seven charged with Villavicencio assassination, including former minister Serrano
An Ecuadorian judge called seven people to trial, including former minister José Serrano, as alleged intellectual authors of the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023.
Trial for Villavicencio assassination: seven defendants, including former minister José Serrano
Former Interior Minister José Serrano and six other people were called to trial as alleged intellectual authors of the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, which occurred in August 2023, Ecuador's Public Prosecutor's Office reported on Thursday, according to france24.com.
Villavicencio was shot dead on 9 August 2023 outside a rally in Quito, one week before the first round of extraordinary elections. Five people were convicted of the crime as material perpetrators; eight other people involved died before trial, including the seven Colombian hitmen who participated in the assassination.
The judge also upheld preventive detention for Serrano, as well as for Ángel Aguilar, known as "Lobo Menor", and Luis Arboleda, alias "Gordo Luis", also under investigation in the case.
The Public Ministry reported that the judge declared fugitives the former correísta assemblyman and former leader of the Latin Kings, Ronny Aleaga; businessman Xavier Jordán; and Wilmer Chavarría, one of the top leaders of the criminal organisation Los Lobos, currently detained in Spain.
Serrano, who during Rafael Correa's administration (2007-2017) was his principal figure in security policy, participated in the hearing remotely from Encuentro prison—a facility built to hold leaders of major criminal gangs, where former vice-president Jorge Glas is also held. Serrano has repeatedly rejected his involvement in the case, arguing that there is no logic in associating him with Los Lobos, identified as those who carried out the assassination.
The hearing, held at the Northern Judicial Complex in Quito, was briefly interrupted following an alert about an abandoned backpack outside the building. Police found inside it explosive compounds that would contain a slow fuse, according to preliminary reports.
The calling to trial took place one week after Daniel Salcedo—another person under investigation in the case—was extradited to the United States along with Francisco Manuel Bermúdez, alias "Churrón", leader of the Los Choneros gang, and Ronald Herrera, a protected witness in the investigation of the crime.
Serrano was deported to Ecuador from the United States just over a month before the hearing. He had been detained by the United States immigration service (ICE) last year.
Source: Google News EC — Crime