Ecuadorian authorities have arrested two individuals suspected to be involved in the murder of local prosecutor César Suárez. The arrests were made a day after Suárez was shot dead in an incident that has sent shockwaves through the country’s legal and enforcement community.
Suárez, at the time of his assassination, was assigned by Attorney General Diana Salazar to investigate the case of an armed group who stormed a local TV station on January 9, wielding automatic sub-machine guns and rifles.
Speaking at a press conference after the arrests, Police Chief General Víctor Herrera stated that they suspect the detained individuals to be part of ChoneKiller, a terrorist group. The police are still working on unearthing the motive behind Suárez’s unfortunate killing.
In the backdrop of this situation, Daniel Noboa Azin, the President of Ecuador, had earlier in January declared an “internal armed conflict” following a series of organized terror attacks throughout the country. These attacks involved notably violent acts including the murder of hostages in Guayaquil prison and the aforementioned storming of a TV station by armed gunmen. Notably, Suárez’s criminal investigation was focused on this attack on the TV station.
As per a statement released by President Azin’s office on January 9 during the hostage situation, he ordered the Armed Forces to carry out military operations to neutralize the groups responsible for the organized violence. Consequently, 13 people, including 2 minors, were arrested in connection with the TV station attack, as announced by The Office of Ecuador’s Attorney General.
Coverage from Reuters emphasizes that nearly 2,000 people have been arrested by the Ecuadorian authorities in response to these events. Meanwhile, the same report underlined that prosecutor Suárez did not have a protective detail when he was assassinated and local authorities stated no such request was submitted for Wednesday’s hearing because it was to be held virtually.
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