Quito, October 14 (RHC)-- The prefect of the Ecuadorean province of Pichincha Paola Pabon was arrested in the early morning hours of Monday at her home by an order from the country's prosecutor after what she said was an illegal search and without a warrant, to carry out "investigations."
The police raid was broadcast on Facebook live by the leftist leader as she put on her clothes to prepare for being taken to into custody.
"Today they entered my house at dawn and knocked down the door while I was sleeping. They took me into detention without evidence. Being an opposition in a democracy cannot be a crime. It is not a democracy when political opponents are persecuted in this way," Pabón said.
The political leader of the Social Commitment Force movement has been accused by the government Lenin Moreno of being one of the instigators for the small acts of looting and violence that took place as part of the massive, mostly peaceful, mobilizations around the country over the past 10 days in rejection of the pro-IMF decree that eliminated the fuel subsidies.
In the video she posted on her Facebook about the raid, Pabón denounced that the police entered her home without a court order and that her detention violates the rule of law.
According to the images, a group of uniformed men with seals from the Mobile Anti-Narcotics Special Group and the Anti-Crime Intelligence Unit remain silent around her while the prefect shouts: "They are inside my home, I want to see the court order ..."
"Let them be clear: this government will not last a lifetime ... They found me in my bed sleeping, this is the conspiracy ...", says Pabón.
Moreno accused Ecuadorean ex-president Rafael Correa, Ricardo Patiño, Virgilio Hernández, Paola Pabón, last week of being behind the protests in an alleged attempt to overthrow him, charges they all deny.
For its part, the country's Attorney General office said on its official Twitter account that "Paola P., Christian G, and Pablo D" were arrested following police investigations.
