Ecuador court denies suspension of conviction for former president Lenín Moreno
An Ecuadorian court unanimously rejected suspending the five-year prison sentence imposed on Lenín Moreno for bribery linked to the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project.
Ecuador rejects suspending Moreno's prison sentence for Sinohydro bribery
A Guayaquil court unanimously rejected on Tuesday suspending the execution of the five-year prison sentence imposed on former president Lenín Moreno (2017-2021), according to efe.com. The judges denied the request presented by Moreno and eleven other people convicted in the same case, including his wife, Rocío González; his daughter, Irina Moreno; and his brothers Edwin and Guillermo, who received sentences of two years and six months for bribery.
The petition sought to avoid imprisonment in exchange for compliance with a series of conditions established by the courts. The convicted individuals invoked an article of the penal code that allows suspension of sentence execution if the sentence does not exceed five years and if the convicted person has no other sentence or ongoing proceedings, among other requirements.
The court, however, rejected that argument. It noted that the invoked provision, in its unmodified version, was only in effect between 2014 and 2021, whilst the facts tried occurred between 2008 and 2018. It added that the judicial process in this case began in 2023, when the reform excluding those convicted of bribery from the benefit—approved in 2021—had already been in force for more than a year.
Moreno was found guilty on 28 August alongside nineteen other people. The same court convicted him of receiving bribes to favour the financing of the construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, the largest in the country, executed by Chinese state-owned company Sinohydro.
The judges accepted the prosecution's theory, which held that Sinohydro paid approximately 76 million dollars in bribes channelled through a network of companies and distributed among different people, including members of the former president's family circle.
The facts occurred when Moreno served as vice-president during the government of Rafael Correa (2007-2017). According to the judges, he intervened from that position in an "area outside his remit" to favour the Chinese company, whose family circle would have received benefits in exchange. The former president has rejected those accusations.
Source: Google News EC — Crime