Lawyer Erwin Romeropolice defender Cristian Cevalloscustodian of the assassinated Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencioassured this Thursday that the Police command did know about the criminal threat, even a day before the homicide occurred.
Romero addressed his complaint to the current commander of the Police, General Cesar Zapatawho, he said, was fully aware that Villavicencio would attend the political rally where he was murdered on August 9.
LOOK HERE: Ecuador: the 6 Colombian hitmen who murdered Fernando Villavicencio are killed in prison
“They were aware of the threats and did nothing“, assured the lawyer before entering a hearing at the Prosecutor’s Office, where his client had to offer a version of the events.
Cristian Cevallos He had been assigned to provide security for Villavicencio and was in charge of the police security operation the day the presidential candidate was shot down by hitmen while leaving a rally at a coliseum in the north-central part of Quito.
Cevallos, who has been sanctioned by the police command, has insisted that he had warned about the candidate’s vulnerability and requested the reinforcement of his security, which did not materialize.
According to his lawyer, the “omissive behaviors” of officers who did not respond to the frequent requests and alerts that their client had made to the respective police entities.
Romero even recalled that Cevallos has two administrative summaries, so he could be separated from the Police, but he assured that these are due to altered documents that the department of internal affairs has used against him.
Fernando Villavicencio He was murdered on August 9 after leaving the political rally and was trying to get into a car, when one of the hitmen opened the rear door of the vehicle and shot him, before fleeing.
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The shooter died a few meters from the crime scene, when he was caught by police, while other suspects were later arrested in a neighborhood in the south of the city.
Six of the detainees, who were in the Litoral Penitentiaryin the coastal city of Guayaquilwere found dead in their cells on October 6.
These six Colombians were part of thirteen defendants in the investigation for the murder of Villavicencio.
