ECUADOR'S FRAGILE SUPREME COURT FIGHTS SCANDAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 002352

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: ECUADOR'S FRAGILE SUPREME COURT FIGHTS SCANDAL

Classified By: POLOFF Erik Martini for reasons 1.4 (B&D)


1. (U) Summary: Former congressman Renan Borbua turned his
messy political trial into a corruption scandal directed at
Supreme Court Justice Alfonso Zambrano when he presented
video evidence of the Justice's son asking for a bribe.
After over a week of public uproar and press, the Supreme
Court took matters into its own hands and unanimously removed
all three justices of Zambrano's chamber, not waiting for an
investigatory report it had ordered a week ago. The Supreme
Court had made some headway as a legitimate institution in
past months, striving for de-politicization, clearing cases,
and taking on some high profile corruption cases. While the
current scandal seriously threatens the still fragile Court,
its strong action today may avert a crisis in the Ecuadorian
legal system. End Summary.

Messy Political Trial Explodes and Court Polices Itself
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2. (SBU) Former Patriotic Society (PSP) congressional deputy
and cousin of ex-president Lucio Gutierrez Renan Borbua on
September 6 shocked the Supreme Court when he announced he
had videotaped the son of Supreme Court Justice Alfonso
Zambrano Pasquel asking for a $500,000 bribe to set aside a
lower court ruling against him. Immediately following the
charge, the son, Alfonso Zambrano Vidal, reportedly fled
Ecuador for Peru (and has been placed on a watchlist should
he seek to enter the United States). Meanwhile, Justice
Zambrano Pasquel, who is traveling in Bolivia visiting a law
school, resigned his post this morning (and has also been
placed on a watchlist should he seek to enter the United
States). This afternoon, the Supreme Court unanimously
decided to remove Zambrano and the other two Justices in his
chamber permanently. The Supreme Court had ordered an
investigation into the matter, convoking an investigatory
committee charged with gathering evidence and examining the
authenticity of the videotape. The investigatory committee's
report is not finished and not due until next week.

Background: Underlying Political Trial in Guayaquil
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3. (C) A Guayaquil lower criminal court convicted Borbua of
"prevaricato" (perversion of justice) when he called
ex-presidential candidate and Social Christian Party (PSC)
stalwart Xavier Neira a "thieving dog". The PSC is believed
to control the Guayaquil courts. Borbua appealed the
sentence of two years in prison and five million dollars in
damages. He claimed immunity as a congressional deputy and
that the newspaper publishing the defamatory remark hadn't
certified the quote as required by Ecuadorian law. Arturo
Donoso, former member of the Supreme Court and current legal
adviser to Jaime Velasco, speculates Borbua may be stalling
for time with his corruption accusation because if the appeal
isn't resolved by November 7th, the case will be barred by
prescription.

Improving Supreme Court and Judicial System Hit Hard
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4. (SBU) The scandal comes as the Supreme Court is
struggling to gain legitimacy as a democratic institution.
Before the Gutierrez administration, seats on the Court were
allocated by Congress according to political party.
Gutierrez and his allies attempted unconstitutionally to pack
the Supreme Court in December, 2004, to get around the
resulting PSC domination. Protests against his Supreme Court
meddling, including his last ditch attempt to dissolve it
unconstitutionally, led to the downfall of the government.
In November, 2005, a new Court was named using a process
that, while extra-constitutional, resulted in a largely
de-politicized and well-regarded court thanks to active OAS
oversight.


5. (U) Since November, the Court has been working hard to
gain the trust of the Ecuadorian people. Its president,
Jaime Velasco, embarked on a publicity campaign, giving a
nationally televised speech highlighting his justices' hard
work to clear the backlog of cases accumulated after almost a
year of the Court's absence. Velasco ordered the previous
Supreme Court President, Guillermo Castro, to stand trial for
corruption charges. He also recently announced he will open
all his bank accounts to the public.


6. (SBU) In spite of the positive direction of the new
Supreme Court, it continues to be weighed down by a generally
corrupt justice system that is regularly pilloried in the
press. In addition to the current scandal, the Court has
drawn public ire for dismissing the corruption case against
despised former president Jamil Mahuad -- albeit that may
well have been the correct legal decision. The Zambrano
scandal has provoked demonstrations and protests in front of
the Supreme Court building.

Insiders Worry
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7. (C) Donoso told POLOFF yesterday the situation with the
Court was precarious and in the hands of public opinion.
Defending Zambrano had already become close to impossible
given the media perception, he said. Velasco is close to
"throwing in the towel" and resigning. He claimed Leon
Roldos would be the only President capable of preventing the
Court's downfall. He vaguely alluded to lingering
interference in the Court by the PSC.

Comment
--------------


8. (C) Ecuador has made some progress in legitimizing,
de-politicizing and strengthening the Supreme Court. This
scandal threatened to be a major setback. President Palacio
has, for the moment, distanced himself from the scandal,
perhaps preferring to leave the mess for the next
administration. Under immense pressure, Velasco had been
criticized for merely opening an investigation and suspending
the justices for 15 days rather than taking stronger action
in view of the video evidence. Today's action by the Supreme
Court removing Zambrano on its own unanimous initiative sends
the signal that it may be serious about fighting corruption.
It will definitely help quell the public outcry that
seriously threatened the institution.
JEWELL