Thread by @olabini

In June 2019, a tribunal confirmed my Habeas Corpus request. This Habeas Corpus also confirmed that my detention, arrest, kidnapping by the Ecuadorean state had been illegal, unjustified and abusive in a number of ways. But the persecution of me still continues. 1/15

You might expect that after the Habeas Corpus, the government would be more careful about violating my rights, but the opposite is true. These violations keep happening, every single day, and we don't know when it will end. 2/15

But yesterday, we finally had a nother victory. A judge heard evidence about some of the abuses from the judge in charge of my case - Yadira Proaño. We asked that this judge be removed from the process, after more than 2 years of delays and other problems. 3/15

In this hearing, asking for a recusation of the judge, we were only allowed to directly discuss the unjustified delays in my process. The latest delay has been for the pre-trial, which was suspended for over 6 months. It should be over in 15 days maximum. 4/15

In yesterdays hearing, Judge Rodriguez confirmed our petition. She also confirmed that Proaño has abused my rights to an incredible level - even though we only discussed the delays, not any of the other problematic aspects of the process against me. 5/15

The end result of this decision is that Proaño is immediately removed from the penal process against me. A new judge will be randomly selected, and then this judge will have to decide how to move forward. Sadly, we are once again in a legal grey zone. 6/15

The reason for this is that Proaño called the continuation of the pre-trial ONE HOUR (!!!) after we presented the petition for recusation. Proaño delivered an oral verdict calling to trial, but she still has not actually submitted a written resolution. 7/15

In Ecuador, the next phase can't happen until the written resolution has been submitted and confirmed. But now that Proaño is gone from the process, we are in another unprecedented legal situation. We don't know what the new judge will do. 8/15

The possibilities range from re-starting the pre-trial from scratch, making a new resolution based on the transcripts and recordings from the pre-trial, or making a written resolution based on Proaño's oral resolution. All of these are quite weird. 9/15

In the hearing, Proaño never showed up to defend herself. Nor did she send a defense lawyer. To me, this shows how little respect this judge has for the judicial system of Ecuador. She holds the justice system itself in contempt by not being present. 10/15

It seems that she felt that she didn't justify her delays and irregularities in the process. In addition to separating the judge from my process, the recusation process will also be sent to Consejo de la Judicatura, to start disciplinary actions against Proaño. 11/15

During the hearing, my lawyers added lots of detail and color to the many violations during my process. The judge in the recusation case could not legally make a statement about these other facts (backed up by documents from the official file). 12/15

But you could see on her face how upset she were by many of these actions. However, since the recusation hearing legally had to focus on the unjustified delays, these were the only parts mentioned in the resolution, backed up by strong legal arguments. 13/15

In summary, another judge has now confirmed the continued legal nature of the process against me. The Habeas Corpus showed the many violations surrounding my initial detention, arrest and imprisonment. This judgment shows clearly that the violations continues until now. 14/15

The only thing missing now is seeing what the consequences for Proaño will be. Apparently, she already has other judgments like these against her. I've been told that based on these acts, she _has_ to be removed as a judge. But is she still being protected? We will see. 15/15