Ecuador court orders arrest of Abdalá Bucaram upon discharge from medical care
An Ecuadorian court ordered the detention of former president Abdalá Bucaram following his sixth absence from a hearing in the Covid-19 Tests case.
Arrest warrant against Bucaram for sixth consecutive failure to attend trial
An Ecuador court ordered the detention of former president Abdalá Bucaram upon receiving medical discharge, according to laradiodelsur.com.ve. The measure was adopted this Thursday following the sixth consecutive absence of the former leader from the hearing in which he was to hear a sentence against him.
Bucaram failed to appear at the resumption of the trial in the Covid-19 Tests case, in which he is being prosecuted alongside his son Jacobo and two other individuals for alleged organised crime.
The Office of the Attorney General reported that the Criminal Guarantees Court declared the proceedings unsuccessful and ordered the Police Search Unit to maintain permanent surveillance at the clinic where the former president was reportedly admitted. Once discharged, Bucaram will be apprehended to ensure his attendance and to hear the oral ruling.
The former president's family maintains that on 26 August he underwent cardiac surgery at a clinic in Guayaquil and was subsequently transferred to another medical facility to continue his recovery.
The case dates back to 2020. The prosecution accuses Bucaram, his son and two other individuals of having collaborated with a structure that allegedly obtained economic benefits through the commercialisation of 21,000 tests for detecting Covid-19 and other medical supplies.
The trial began on 11 April 2025, following several postponements recorded since 2022, and 50 individuals testified in it, including expert witnesses and witnesses. The organised crime offence is punished in Ecuador with up to 10 years' imprisonment, a sentence that may be increased if aggravating factors are proven.
Source: Google News EC — Crime