“When they go to the audience, they send them free, they send them free. The prosecutor does not file charges, imagine, with evidence. What’s up now? On whose side are they? Whose side are you on, gentlemen? Which side are they on? Are they for security or are they with the corrupt?
Those were part of the expressions of an outraged Wilson Torres, police chief of the Quevedo-Mocache district, captured in a video that went viral over the weekend on social media.
Police chief of Quevedo questions the prosecutor for not filing charges against two alleged micro-traffickers; Despite the evidence, those arrested were released.
The uniformed officer thus questioned the actions of a Quevedo prosecutor who, he said, did not file charges against two men arrested on Thursday, June 30 with drugs, on the Quevedo River route. Quito personnel even participated in that operation, after two months of investigation, it was indicated.
Said questioning of certain prosecutors and, in general, of the judicial system has also occurred in the rest of the country and on a recurring basis. One of the most echoed criticisms occurred the previous month, when by decision of a judge, who issued precautionary measures, 18 people were released after being apprehended with weapons and money, after a shootout in the La Aurora sector, Dale Parish.
The governor of Guayas, Pablo Arosemena, denounced judge José Torres for alleged malfeasance before the Guayas Prosecutor’s Office.
Disagreement with the administration of justice reached such a level that in June the Municipality of Guayaquil planned to broadcast on billboards the names of prosecutors and judges in some case along with the faces of the detainees, however, later the council backed down on that initiative for security of the investigation processes.
The face of those apprehended is spread in the city.
The previous Sunday, in Manta, Manabí province, a man was arrested with drugs 14 days after being released, since a judge gave him alternative measures for the same crime.
What happened in Quevedo leads us to wonder what is happening with the justice system?
Antonio Gagliardo, former provincial prosecutor of Guayas, believes that, in this case, as denounced by the Police, the official should have filed charges and initiated a prosecutorial investigation as it was an apparent transnational drug crime.
It considers it necessary that, by way of prevention, the Prosecutor’s Office internally evaluates its officials and if any irregularity is detected in the actions of a certain server, it is immediately brought to the attention of the Judicial Council (CJ).
“That the Prosecutor’s Office has a department that monitors the actions of the prosecutors, that collects complaints from the Police and if it detects that there are irregularities by that official, immediately inform the Judiciary Council, follow up and seek sanctions,” he said. Gagliardo.
That the Prosecutor’s Office have a department that monitors the actions of the prosecutors, that collects complaints from the Police and if it detects that there are irregularities by that official, immediately inform the Judiciary Council, follow up and seek to sanction
Antonio Gagliardo, former provincial prosecutor of Guayas
The former official argued that to the extent that prosecutors notice that there are sanctions for those who act incorrectly or illegally, the servers will act in accordance with the law.
Currently, he mentioned, only if someone feels harmed by the actions of a server does he resort to the provincial prosecutor, a report is made and if there are anomalies, the process is taken to the Judiciary.
“But there should also be, I believe, within the Prosecutor’s Office a unit to go to hearings, to listen, to also meet the provincial prosecutor with the policemen, the police chiefs and talk with them. Listen to his complaints, if an official is acting badly in a unit, to change it, ”said Gagliardo.
Héctor Vanegas, councilor of Guayaquil and former prosecutor, is also in favor of sanctioning officials who commit bad procedures to set a precedent and that bad actions are not repeated.
“It is scandalous that, having sufficient evidence, prosecutors decide not to file charges and allow people detained in flagrante delicto to regain their freedom (…) that must be corrected, because in this way what is being done is simply facilitating impunity,” said the mayor. Buenos Aires
Regarding the Quevedo case, Joselito Argüello, a former prosecutor, observed that there is no respect for the principle of internal and external independence on the part of the police chief, since he does not have the legal capacity to comment on investigative decisions.
“Unfortunately, we live in a time where criminal populism is being applied and the media issue is what determines which action is good and which action is bad within the scope of action of justice operators,” said the jurist.
However, it does consider that the prosecutor must respond disciplinary or administratively, in the event that it is determined that his conduct was not in accordance with the law.
In the midst of criticism of the judicial system for certain cases, contradictions also arise between the instances. At least that was perceived this Monday when the Court of Justice and the Guayas Prosecutor’s Office clarified, through their Twitter accounts, that those detained over the weekend by the Police in the Pascuales sector, in Guayaquil, would not be related to the crime of the wife and daughter of a Zone 8 uniformed officer.
Initially, in the account of the Prosecutor’s Office, it was reported that the defendants were related to the case.
Robert Friend, a professor at the Faculty of Jurisprudence of the Universidad Espiritu Santo (UEES), pointed out that the problem in the administration of justice is due to two situations: the lack of resources to maintain the judicial system in an optimal way, allowing the incorporation of more judges, prosecutors and secretaries, as well as a true technological implementation.
The Prosecutor’s Office and the Court specify that the eight detainees in Pascuales would not be related to the crime of the wife and daughter of a police officer
The second, he said, is due to the need to strengthen the disciplinary system that has been affected by ruling No. 3-19-CN/20 issued by the Constitutional Court, which, in defense of judicial independence, it “unleashed” the problems that are notorious today.
“That is to say, to the cases in which serious decisions adopted by judges and prosecutors are observed that release criminals, which not only violates legal values but also abuses certain guarantees enshrined in the law, and then publicly justifying themselves with puerile arguments, refutable by any law student”, questioned the academic. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
