EspañolThe Deputy Mayor of Quito, Ecuador was sentenced to 15 days in jail Monday, September 5 for allegedly offending President Rafael Correa during a radio interview June 10.

A judge gave Eduardo Del Pozo 15 days in jail for “offending the honor of President Correa.”

“Even if they use their entire judicial machinery against us,” Del Pozo said, “we will stand here without fear.”

In the radio interview, Del Pozo said the president “gave out sentences at will, took money, paid no taxes and transferred money to tax havens claiming that it was transferred to Belgium.”

These statements had the deputy mayor convicted of contravening the article 396 of the Integral Penal Code (COIP), which is punishable by 15 days in prison, as well as by a public apology.

The Deputy Mayor disagreed with the outcome made by Judge Maximo Ortega and said it was a response to “political retaliation for having reached the position of Deputy Mayor of Quito […] and wanting to silence those of us who think differently.”

During the hearing, the audio interview of Del Pozo was played. The lawyer of President Correa, Caupolicán Ochoa, gave a statement in which he explained that according to him, Del Pozo’s rhetoric was “an assertion made in disrepute to dishonor a person, a human being who is entitled to his good name, his honor, his dignity.”

Del Pozo is entitled to file.

Source: El telegrafo; El comercio