Ecuador sues Mexico at ICJ over granting asylum to former vice president
Al Jazeera
Mexico had earlier appealed to the United Nations court to sanction Ecuador for storming its embassy in Quito.
Ecuador has moved to sue Mexico amid an ongoing diplomatic spat over Ecuador’s former Vice President Jorge Glas.
The conflict centres on Mexico’s decision in early April to grant asylum to Glas, who had twice been convicted of corruption by Ecuadoran courts. In December 2017, Glas was sentenced to six years in prison after he was convicted on charges of accepting bribes from the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht in exchange for government contracts.
Glas had been staying at Mexico’s diplomatic compound in Quito since December. Then Ecuadoran authorities stormed Mexican’s embassy in Quito, arrested him, and imprisoned him in Guayaquil.
In a filing with the United Nations’ top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Ecuador said the move by Mexico “obstructed the proper administration of justice in Ecuador, [and] constituted, among other things, a blatant misuse of the premises of a diplomatic mission”.
Ecuador also accused Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of making “false and injurious statements calling into question the legitimacy of the elections in Ecuador”.
