Belgium has granted refugee status to former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for corruption in his country, the former head of state announced on Friday, shortly after the launch by Quito of a request for extradition.

Rafael Correa told AFP that Belgium, the country of origin of his wife and where he has lived since the end of his mandate in 2017, had granted him asylum, confirming information from the Spanish agency EFE.

Diplomatic measures to follow

A certificate from the Belgian General Commissioner for Refugees and Stateless Persons, dated April 15, grants the former president (2007-2017) refugee status “within the meaning of the Geneva Convention (…) and its additional protocol”.

For his part, the president of the Ecuadorian National Court of Justice, Ivan Saquicela, announced on Friday that he had signed the day before “the order initiating the process of extradition, as it corresponds to the law, of Rafael Vicente Correa”.

The next step is “that at the diplomatic level, the necessary and indispensable measures be taken so that the extradition takes place” from Belgium, he explained in an interview with the Teleamazonas television channel.

Bribes in exchange for contracts

Rafael Correa was sentenced in absentia in September 2020 to eight years in prison for corruption, an imprescriptible crime such as embezzlement, extortion and illicit enrichment.

This conviction had annihilated his hopes of returning to politics, the Constitution prohibiting for life to appear before voters in cases of corruption.

Justice considered that Mr. Correa and several of his former collaborators received bribes in exchange for contracts with various companies.

Among the firms suspected was the Brazilian construction group Odebrecht, at the heart of numerous corruption trials in Latin America.

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  • World

  • Ecuador

  • Belgium

  • Corruption

  • Right of asylum

  • Extradition