Supporters of the assassinated Ecuadorian presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, gathered today, Friday, to hold a memorial ceremony for him, after the Prosecutor's Office charged six suspects involved in his murder. The Prosecutor's Office has accused the six suspects, all of whom are Colombian, of murder. The police indicated that they belong to criminal organizations, and a judge late Thursday ordered their preventive detention for 30 days.
According to documents uploaded to an online justice system, the six individuals were also charged with drug trafficking, and two of them had previously been charged on July 5 with receiving stolen goods. A spokesperson for the Ecuadorian police mentioned that they all have prior criminal records in Ecuador and Colombia.
In the same context, today, Villavicencio's family, along with a small group of supporters and political allies, met in a funeral home in the capital, Quito, where they held a special memorial service and raised some banners. Villavicencio, a former legislator and anti-corruption journalist, was shot and killed while leaving a campaign event on Wednesday evening, less than two weeks before the elections.
