Authorities discovered a former Ecuadorean vp, Jorge Glas, in a “deep self-induced coma” in jail on Monday, simply days after he was captured by the police in a dramatic arrest contained in the Mexican embassy in Quito.
Mr. Glas ingested anti-depressants and sedatives, based on a police report, and was being transferred to a navy hospital for remark.
The previous vp faces a cost of embezzlement in Ecuador, and he had sought refuge in the Mexican embassy in an try and keep away from arrest. He grew to become the topic of a diplomatic scuffle final week when police in Quito entered the embassy and efficiently captured him, transferring him to a detention middle.
A 1961 diplomatic treaty says that governments can not enter overseas embassies with out permission from the embassy’s host nation, establishing a line that has been crossed solely on uncommon events.
Ecuador’s new president, Daniel Noboa, has been keen to look powerful on crime amid a rising safety disaster within the area, and he has defended the decision to detain Mr. Glas, calling him a legal, not a political prisoner.
On Monday, simply because the information of Mr. Glas’ overdose broke, Mr. Noboa reiterated this position, saying that he had an “obligation” to arrest individuals like Mr. Glas or the nation would face “the imminent risk of their escape.”
“Ecuador is a country of peace and justice,” he continued, “which respects all nations and international law.”
Legal professionals for Mr. Glas, an ally of former president Rafael Correa, say that he’s being politically persecuted. Mr. Glas served as vp beneath Mr. Correa from 2013 to 2017.
Thalíe Ponce contributed reporting from in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Genevieve Glatsky contributed from Bogotá, Colombia.
