Ecuadorian judge overturns ruling and rules that Jorge Glass’ detention at Mexican embassy was ‘lawful’

(CNN) — Former Vice President of Ecuador, Jorge Glas, suffered a legal setback on Friday. A court of the National Court of Justice declared that his detention during the police raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito on April 5 was “lawful, legitimate and not arbitrary.”

In this way, the court overturned a previous ruling issued in April, in which another court of the same court decided that the detention of Jorge Glass was “arbitrary and illegal,” although it ordered Glass to remain detained to serve two suspended sentences.

Friday’s ruling responds to a habeas corpus request filed by Jorge Glass’s defense to regain his freedom. Glass has been detained in La Roca high-security prison since April 6, after his arrest, and after he was ordered to be placed in pretrial detention in another corruption case being investigated by the judicial system. Glass rejects the accusations.

In its decision issued on Friday, seen by CNN, the National Court of Justice confirms that Jorge Glass is “not a simple accused” because after the completion of judicial procedures, his guilt was determined and his sentence ordered.

It reads: “Jorge Glass has the status of being convicted by the Ecuadorian judiciary, enjoys this status, and therefore (in another case in which he is being tried) has an order of preventive detention until his conviction or acquittal.” Judicial states.

In contrast, the court notes that Glass’s defense is attempting to obfuscate by using the writ of habeas corpus to obtain freedom, an advantage he did not have prior to the pretrial detention order. “Not being a free person, it is contradictory to seek freedom that does not belong to him through a writ of habeas corpus,” the ruling states.

The National Court of Justice reiterates, in the entire text of its decision, that the detention of Glass on April 5 “was legal, legitimate and not arbitrary,” and therefore rejected the habeas corpus request submitted by the defense of former MP Rais.

In addition, the court members ordered the National Service for the Comprehensive Care of Adults Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) to guarantee Glass’s rights to life, health and safety in prison.