“We obviously reject any attack on human rights, political persecution.”
President of Ecuador Rafael Correa said he may deny extraditing Aliaksandr Barankou, a former financial crime investigator from Belarus.
President Rafael Correa said his word would be last in the situation around the political refugee from Belarus which is being attempted to be brought back by official Minsk.
“Ecuador will put the emphasis on not extraditing a citizen whose life is at risk, from the death penalty or life in prison,” the official, Marco Albuja, told reporters, AFP quotes the official.
Rafael Correa said “we obviously reject any attack on human rights, (any) political persecution.”
After the statement by Correa Barankou noted by phone from the prison: “I want to say that this protects not just my life but also protects the lives of my parents.” He also added that his father was earlier hospitalized with heart problems.
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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