I was the municipal secretary of Guayaquil in 1969 and 1970. Hearing of the request of habeas corpus, due to illegal or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, was a municipal jurisdiction. The hearings had to be public, but no circus pressures were allowed, neither against nor in favor of those deprived of liberty who appeared.

A measure was filed and the person deprived of liberty was handed over to the mayor of the municipality, who reviewed the documentation presented by the person responsible for detention, and at that moment could decide to release the person from the Municipal Palace. Sometimes an appointment was set for him to decide.

A procedure was devised: the request for freedom was received for processing and considered in a public hearing, to be decided. Dozens habeas corpus they were resolved for the freedom of the arrestee or arrestees.

Let’s not forget that between history and legend it says that those who wanted to be eaten by wild beasts were taken to the Roman circus. “Hail, Caesar, death’s greeting” is the Latin phrase quoted in Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Suetonius, traditionally attributed to those who were to be executed. Whoever was taken there already knew they were doomed.

I remember the mentioned episodes when I found out about the decision on public hearings made by the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (SPPCS) for government officials to appear before their members and their questioners, so that they could give explanations of their management, two of which have already been mentioned hearings, one for Interior Minister Juan Zapata, which I’m told he didn’t because he learned they were waiting for him to demand his resignation and other attacks, and – on Thursday, June 1, 2023 – for prosecutor Diana Salazar, to keep the eyes on eyes listened to the group’s accusations, in the presence of its members, with placards and whistles, that she had plagiarized a high percentage of her thesis and that, since the accreditation helped him to be the attorney general, he would lose his position. In the Diana Salazar case, the accusers were described as “great heroes” without the alleged wrongdoing being proven by the academic authority who must judge.

The fact that the thesis was copied is evident, with the presentation of the text of the thesis and allegedly copied texts, with precise sources and dates. Keeping the so-called Turnitin plagiarism scanner, which is only a tool for this purpose, prone to errors until there is no debugging, can lead to a false conclusion. Referring to the use of the Turnitin tracker, the appellants would state, according to what was published, 40% similarity between the thesis and other texts, but the Post, cited by Pamela Troya, would reach a much lower percentage than that. Really?

In areas of public power, such as the premises of the courts of justice, the Constitutional Court, the ZKPCS, electoral bodies, the Judicial Council, among others, one must strive to act without passion and without allowing the environment to become depressed. (OR)