Ecuador: ex-police officer sentenced to maximum sentence for femicide
In Ecuador, a former police officer was sentenced Thursday, May 26 to nearly 35 years in prison for the murder of his wife. The case had made all the more noise because this femicide took place in the grounds of an establishment that trains police officers.
Photo released by the Ecuadorian presidency shows former Ecuadorian policeman German Caceres, accused of killing his lawyer wife, escorted by Interpol police officers and Interior Minister Juan Zapata (L) at Quito's Mariscal Sucre International Airport on January 3, 2023, © AFP PHOTO/ECUADOREAN PRESIDENCY
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On September 11, Maria Belen Bernal entered the Police Academy in Quito to visit her husband, Lieutenant German Caceres. This young lawyer of 34 years is then seen alive for the last time. Her mother reported her missing and launched a public campaign to find her. "Where is Maria Belen Bernal?" chanted thousands of protesters in the streets. A question taken up by all the Ecuadorian press.
Ten days later, the young woman's body was found on a hill near the police academy. Her mother denounces a state crime, because Maria Belen Bernal died in a police institution. The country is in shock. The credibility of law enforcement is undermined.
Under pressure, President Guillermo Lasso dismissed Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo and two generals and asked the population for forgiveness. The assassin is on the run. It was her husband, German Caceres, who was finally arrested in December in Colombia.
During his trial, he admitted the murder of his wife, a crime for which he received the maximum sentence of 34 years and eight months in prison. "On the basis of the evidence presented and accepting the request made by the prosecution, the Court of Criminal Guarantees, unanimously, sentenced German C. to a maximum aggravated sentence of 34 years and 8 months in prison as the perpetrator of the crime of femicide," the prosecutor said.
The judges also requested that the police academy issue a public apology and award a medal bearing Maria Belen Bernal's name to the best members of each class. In addition, they also called for human rights, in particular gender issues, to be addressed in the first year of training.
>> READ ALSO: Ecuador: assassination of a prosecutor in charge of femicides
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- Ecuador
- Guillermo Lasso
- Justice
- Women's rights