Ecuadorian Dilemma: Barankou vs. Assange

The Supreme Court of Ecuador considers the request by Belarusian authorities to extradite Belarusian political refugee Aliaksandr Barankou who — according to his lawyer — may be executed in Belarus for high treason, RFE/RL says.

An anonymous source told AFP the decision on the extradition may be taken in few days.

If the court satisfies the request, it is to be considered by President Rafael Correa.

The case of Brankou has caused a wide response in media and was covered by The Guardian, BBC, Sky News, The Washington Post, CNN, Miami Herald, AFP and Ansa.

Ecuadorian mass media highlights the double standards of giving the political shelter: on the one hand, Ecuador is happy to shelter Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, while Aliaksandr Barankou’s extradition is being considered few weeks after the Lukashenka’s visit to Ecuador where two countries sighed several large contracts on cooperation.

Barankou's Ecuadorean girlfriend, Mabel Andrade, told The Associated Press: “We were more or less relaxed until President Lukashenka came. Immediately afterward, Ecuadorean authorities didn't want to renew his ID card and they wouldn't give us any explanation,” CBS says.

Prosecutors in Belarus accuse the 30-year-old Barankou of fraud and extortion. He calls the charges bogus, retribution for his having exposed corruption among some of President Aliaksandr Lukashenka's closest politicians.

Barankou arrived in Ecuador in August 2009 after fleeing the charges, which he said were filed after he uncovered the smuggling ring. Belarus has been trying to extradite him ever since.

In 2010, when he overstayed his visa, he was imprisoned for 55 days but was freed after authorities granted him refugee status, finding merit in his claim of political persecution.

Belarus continued to press for his extradition, but Judge Carlos Ramirez of Ecuador's highest court, the National Court of Justice, denied it in October 2011, finding the evidence of Barankou's alleged crimes inadequate.

Then, on June 7, after a revised extradition request from Belarus, Barankou was arrested by 15 police officers who hauled him from his home in a middle-class neighborhood of northern Quito.

Later that month, Lukashenka visited Ecuador for two days, signing agreements on trade, education, agriculture and the eventual exchange of diplomats with President Rafael Correa. A preliminary defense cooperation agreement was also signed. Under Correa, Ecuador has been deepening commercial and political ties with U.S. rivals including Iran, Russia and China.

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