Suspects In Ecuador Candidate Assassination Killed In Prison

Umer Jamshaid Published October 07, 2023 | 10:20 AM

Guayaquil, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Oct, 2023) Six suspects in the August assassination of Ecuador presidential candidate and anti-corruption crusader Fernando Villavicencio were killed in prison on Friday, officials said.

The SNAI prisons authority initially announced that "an event occurred" in the Guayas 1 prison in Guayaquil "resulting in six dead people.

It later clarified the deceased were "of Colombian nationality and accused of the murder of former presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio."

Villavicencio, a 59-year-old journalist, was gunned down as he left a campaign rally in the capital Quito days ahead of the first round vote.

After news broke of the prison deaths, Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso announced he would immediately return from an international trip to handle the incident.