Quito, (EFE).- The Ecuadorian Attorney General’s Office requested this Wednesday the provisional detention of former President Lenín Moreno, who held the country’s most important position from 2017 to 2021.
The law enforcement agency’s request comes after failing to comply with the regular appearance rule.
The former president was due to appear before the court in the Sinohydro case, which alleges he took bribes to build the country’s largest hydroelectric power station.
Moreno, who works in Asuncion as the Organization of American States (OAS) Commissioner for Disability Affairs, was due to appear in Quito on March 20.
The former president must appear before the National Court of Justice according to the biweekly request imposed by Judge Adrián Rojas.
Initially, the public prosecutor’s office had requested detention for all the accused in this case, but not for Moreno and 12 other people over 65 years of age.
The Ecuadorian constitution exempts him from this measure, but his failure to appear regularly has led prosecutors to now request his detention.
In addition to Moreno, the pre-trial detention requested by the public prosecutor’s office affects eight other defendants in the same case.
They include former First Lady and wife of former President Rocío González and their daughter Irina Moreno.
Lenin Moreno claimed medical problems
Moreno, who is in a wheelchair, denied the judge’s request that he be required to travel to Ecuador every two weeks.
The former president even tried to avoid this through various means, which did not work in his favor.
As the main argument, Moreno cited his vulnerable physical condition, which is why frequent travel could apparently be associated with the risk of health problems.
The hearing to review the measures requested by the prosecutor has been adjourned and will be rescheduled to allow Judge Mauricio Espinosa to report on his decision.
In all, there are 37 accused of bribery in the case, in which prosecutors estimate Chinese state-owned Sinohydro paid $76 million in alleged bribes.
The aim of these bribes was the construction of the hydroelectric power plant Coca Codo Sinclair, with 1,500 megawatts the most powerful in the country.
The events allegedly happened when Moreno was Vice President during Rafael Correa’s tenure (2007-2017).
deny accusation
The case erupted in 2019 when the journalistic portal La Fuente published an investigation.
The article linked one of Moreno’s brothers to accounts in tax havens and a property in Alicante, Spain, in a triangulation of an opaque company.
That report uncovered a number of connections and alleged irregularities linking Moreno to the company INA Investment, leading to an initial investigation by prosecutors.
Moreno dismissed this accusation, suggesting that it was due to a political strategy by Rafael Correa, his main political rival in his country.
Correa lives in Belgium and was convicted by the Ecuadorian judiciary in 2020 of bribery in another corruption case.
He has also denied having anything to do with the Alicante residency as well as the way the construction of the facility was paid for.