Just A Month After His Release, The Wantan Of The Vice President Of Ecuador, Jorge Glass, Was Again Thrown Into Prison

Former Vice President of Ecuador Jorge Glas. (REUTERS/Daniel Tapia)

JAKARTA - Former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who served 4.5 years in prison on bribery charges before being released last month, was detained on Friday May 20 by police under a court order to return him to a cell.

The previous day, the court overturned the decision that released him in April and ordered him back into custody.

"With the execution of the execution of the Santa Elena court resolution, (the police) have physical control over the prisoner Jorge G, while (the prison agency) carries out the procedures for his imprisonment and transport by police helicopter," Ecuador's interior minister said on Twitter. , Saturday 21 May.

Glas was sentenced to prison in 2017 after a court found him guilty of accepting bribes from Brazilian construction company Oderbrecht in exchange for awarding state contracts.

He was also convicted in 2020 of using money from contractors to fund the campaigns of former President Rafael Correa's political movement.

Glas was released after a court on the coast of Santa Elena backed the habeas corpus petition saying his health was in danger.

However, a higher court in the same province overturned the decision after a petition from prison agency SNAI alleging a procedural error meant Glas would have to serve the remainder of his sentence.

"The search, arrest and immediate transfer of resident Jorge Davis Glas Espinel to the Sierra Centro Notre Cotopaxi regional social rehabilitation center has been decided," the Santa Elena Court said in a statement.

Glas' lawyers did not immediately respond to the matter. Glas was sentenced to six years in prison. His sentence in the second case -- in which Correa was also convicted -- was eight years.

Correa described the sentence as political persecution and is fighting for his extradition in Belgium where he has lived since leaving office.

"Evil has once again triumphed, but the definitive victory will be ours. Never doubt it," Correa wrote on Twitter earlier on Friday. "Jorge, please, hold on"