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The story of escapes and the "capture" of Ecuadorian justice by drug lord Dritan Rexhepi

2022-11-26 09:49:02Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

The story of escapes and the "capture" of Ecuadorian justice by drug

Either he had to cross a fence as he did in a Belgian prison 10 years ago, or escape from the entrance of a prison, when in Albania an officer "forgot" to close the cell door.

Albanian Dritan Rexhepi, nicknamed the "King of escapes", received his "release ticket" in Ecuador on November 4, 2021, while he was in an apartment in a luxury locality in Samborondón. Rexhepi served seven of the 13 years of the prison sentence given by the judicial authorities.

Por çfarë bënte një person i dënuar për trafik droge në shtëpi në vend të burgut? Për të kuptuar këtë histori, është e nevojshme të rishikohen datat dhe aktorët e përfshirë.

Më 28 tetor 2021, Diego Rafael Poma Chamba, gjyqtar i Njësisë Gjyqësore të Specializuar të Guajakilit për Garancitë Penitenciare, pranoi kërkesën për lirim paraprak nga 42-vjeçari, pavarësisht se kishte dy kërkesa ekstradimi - njëra nga Shqipëria dhe tjetra nga Italia - edhe pse konsiderohet si një nga drejtuesit e grupit kriminal shqiptar, "Kompania Bello".

Hetimet nga Europol përcaktuan në vitin 2020, se kjo organizatë kontrollonte të gjithë zinxhirin e biznesit të paligjshëm në atë kontinent: nga organizimi i dërgesave të mëdha të drogës direkt nga Amerika e Jugut, deri tek shpërndarja në të gjithë Evropën.

Sipas Europolit, Rexhepi e drejtoi atë organizatë nga burgu Latacunga, ku e kaloi pjesën më të madhe të dënimit. Por në Ekuador, asnjë autoritet nuk paralajmëroi për këtë, sipas mediave ekudoriane.

Me atë profil të ulët në vend, shqiptari dhe një pjesë e bandës së tij iu drejtuan drejtësisë ekuadoriane dhe bashkuan një rrjet të sofistikuar veprimesh ligjore - me pjesëmarrjen e të paktën dy gjyqtarëve - për të dalë para kohe nga burgu pa dijeninë e organeve më të larta të burgut.

Lëvizjet e shqiptarit për të marrë para-lirimin e tij, filluan në vitin 2019, por gjyqtarët e Latacungas e refuzuan apelin e tij. Megjithatë, një mundësi e re u hap për të kur u transferua në burgun Litoral më 26 shkurt 2021.

Një memorandum nga SNAI (Shërbimi Kombëtar i Kujdesit Integrues ndaj personave të dënuar), e konfirmon këtë. Është firmosur nga Marco Patricio Limaico, drejtor i burgut Latacunga, në atë kohë.

Rexhepi figuron në listën e dhjetëra të transferuarve, të ndjekur penalisht për vrasje, përdhunim dhe grabitje.

Dritan Rexhepi pjesën më të madhe të dënimit në Ekuador e kaloi në burgun e Latacungas. Ai u transferua në shkurt 2021 në burgun Litoral

Kjo ndodhi dy ditë pas masakrës së parë në atë burg mes të dënuarve dhe forcave të policisë.

Në më pak se dy muaj, në prill 2021, Rexhepi dhe anëtarët e tjerë të bandës së tij, riaktivizuan kërkesat e tyre për të përfunduar pagesën e dënimit liri me kusht.

These procedures have lasted eight months and in that period three directors have passed in SNAI. Two of them claimed that they had no knowledge of the case or the claims of the Albanian.

One of them is Edmundo Moncayo, who led the SNAI during the government of Lenín Moreno and the new president, Guillermo Lasso, kept him in that position until July 22, 2021.

In those months, Gayle Guillermo Mosquera Galarza and Pelivan Rexhepaj - two members of the Albanian gang - won their freedom before time.

Judge Oswaldo Rafael Dávila Gabino, a colleague of Judge Poma in Guayaquil's Specialized Judicial Unit for Penitentiary Guarantees, granted them this benefit.

Davila is another key piece in this story. In the middle of the pre-release procedures, the "King of Cocaine" was transferred to the Guasmo Sur hospital, as he was suffering from lupus.

His illness is not new, because his former lawyer, Harrison Salcedo - killed in 2021 - requested the release of his client for the same reason.

On this occasion, Judge Dávila accepted Rexhepi's request to stay longer in the hospital, although the doctors wanted to send him back to prison.

In that extension of time, Judge Poma ratified that decision and also placed him under "house arrest" pending the resolution of his pre-release request.

Upon his release from prison, the way was opened: Magistrate Poma granted his release almost immediately and ordered the police not to make any arrests or extraditions until 2027, as detailed later in the chronology of this "legal escape".

With the change in the security measure, Rexhepi was able to go little by little towards release with the decisions of two judges from Guayaquil, the port city of Ecuador, the main springboard for drug trafficking in Europe.

The proceedings started on May 10, 2021, when director Moncayo was still in office. Was he notified of this new procedure and was he informed by the director of the IEPP at that time?

"No," the judge told the Ecuadorian media. "The director of the center knew about this procedure", he added. While he insisted that he had been informed by the director of the center about this high-profile figure, he again mentioned that there was no alarm.

Through the chat, this medium added more questions to the retired general who was in charge of the prison system.

How did you, the prison intelligence and the SNAI legal team, not discover, during your administration, that the Albanian Rexhepi was continuing and persisting in the pre-release procedures and to which pavilion he was transferred? Moncayo responded, claiming to have complied with the legal provisions.

"In order to respect the constitutional, legal and regulatory provisions, SNAI had a structure that provides for two areas until today: Social Rehabilitation and Protection and Security of Prisons. At the same time, SNAI at the national level has detention centers, which are responsible for the management, administration and operation of the centers and for compliance with the provisions in force regarding the System. This is based on the administrative decentralization of SNAI due to the fact that there are detention centers throughout the Ecuadorian territory, which is what the responsible authorities require".

Fausto Cobo replaced Moncayo at SNAI. He was in office from July 23, 2021, until September 27 of the same year.

In that period, Rexhepi managed to get out of Guasmo Sur hospital and from there he never returned to IEVP.

While Bolívar Garzón was the third director of SNAI in the Lasso government. He was in office from September 27, 2021 to November 14 of that year.

In a telephone interview, he also said he was not informed of the claims of the Albanian, who was released in October.

"We, as SNAI, implemented the judge's decision, as he had given that security measure", he said, after adding that he did not remember the case.

He said that the director of IEVP at that time was Carlos Canar. As one of the authorities notified, according to court records, Garzón insisted, "I don't remember the case."

Dritan Rexhepi was arrested on June 27, 2014 in a police operation codenamed "Balkan". During his capture, it turned out that he had three identities


Rexhepi against the press: My life is in danger

In the middle of this legal "ping pong" between the judges, the directors and the prison and the lawyers of the Albanian, the latter, on March 24, 2021, requested a preventive measure in the Judicial Council.

The case of their client had "awakened the interest of the press, which with special journalistic writings, have revealed my personal data, the same ones that put my physical integrity at risk, because it reveals information that can be used by criminal gangs for made an attempted attack on my life, because it identifies exactly which wing I am in, which detention center I am in and whether my request for a semi-open benefit has been approved or not", - was Rexhepi's claim.

The request concerns dozens of Ecuadorian media articles, where Rexhepi's lawyer, Salcedo, tried to free his client, mentioning the good behavior and the work the Albanian did in prison, such as cleaning the center or making masks to cope with the pandemic.

"In the same way, the journalistic notes about my case create pressure on the judges and administrative authorities who handle the case, because in a decontextualized way taken from the system, they seek to deny me my right to a due process of law, since the writings of journalists are used to administratively sanction judicial officials, distancing them from their decision-making mission based on the norms and evidence presented to the authorities", - continues the Albanian's complaint.

He also assured that, through the judicial function system (SATJE), "members of criminal gangs know exactly all the actions carried out by my lawyers, which endangers my life and theirs, since my case is not the first that through SATJE have received information to attempt the physical elimination of people around me".

For these reasons, the Albanian asked that the information of his court proceedings, which were in SATJE, be announced confidentially "to protect my life and the right to a proper legal process".

But judge Alzira Beatriz Benítez, of the Criminal Unit in Latacunga, observed that he did not present any facts and that the Albanian's arguments did not allow for a "reasonable assumption" that the SATJE system could be considered a violation of his rights. During the examination of the chronology, the Albanian was in prison when he made this complaint in Latacunga.

In fact, the story of Dritan Rexhepi has grabbed the attention, above all, of the international press for this "legal escape".

When Rexhepi was arrested in Ecuador, he presented two identities: Ioannis Dionysopoulos (Greek name) and Lulzim Murataj (Albanian name).

He had even changed his appearance. Verification by Interpol's Trace Department in Lyon was necessary to reveal his true identity.

Thus it was established that his nationality was Albanian and his real name was Dritan. Media like "Wall Street Journal" and "The Telegraph" have written about it.

The chronology of the "legal escape" of the Albanian boss

May 25, 2017 - Judge Regalado Arce took up the case. It was based on resolutions 018-2014 and 032-2014 of the Judicial Council, which expand the powers of first-level judges to resolve prison cases.

February 26, 2021 - The director of the Latacunga prison transferred the prisoners from that center to the Litoral prison, including the Albanian Dritan Rexhepi. This happened after the first massacre in the prison between the gangs. According to Moncayo, this happened for security reasons.

May 10, 2021 - This case was not opened until 4 years ago. But that day, the file was taken over by a new judge, Diego Rafael Poma Chamba, from Guayaquil's Specialized Judicial Unit for Penitentiary Guarantees.

There is no explanation in the system as to why this case fell into his hands. Poma asked the judges of other proceedings related to three other members of the Albanian gang to join the file.

Poma's office sent the notification to the Ministry of Justice, instead of SNAI. Jonathan Willie Murillo Rugel, Dritan Rexhepi's lawyer, was among the notified lawyers.

Murillo, who graduated as a lawyer in 2019, worked at the law firm of Raúl Llerena & Asociados.

Llerena suffered an attack on August 12, 2019. He took three bullets but survived. According to the police, the incident was related to the protection he was doing for a drug trafficking organization. "I didn't have contracts with drug traffickers", replied Llerena two months after the assassination attempt.

May 31, 2021 - Judge Poma decided to collect in a single file the requests for release from prison of Dritan Rexhepi, Jackson Vicente Galarza Mosquera, Alegría Cantos Carlos Julio Galarza and Pelivan Rexhepajt, all members of the same gang.

Earlier, judge Dávila Gabino had guaranteed the release of Galarza Mosquera and Pelivani.

Both were banned from leaving the country and forced to report to the Social Reintegration Unit, SNAI in Guaya. Provided that they were presented once a month to the IEVP's Guarantees Unit.

When Judge Poma dismissed their cases, he gave them more benefits: he dismissed the "mandatory appearance" measure for them in the Reintegration Unit.

However, a social worker from the Unit had to visit them so that they could continue with their social reintegration process.

This decision, according to the judge, was due to the fact that the convicts filed a report of threats against them.

July 30, 2021 - Judge Dávila Gabino authorized Dritan Rexhepi to continue his stay at the Guasmo Sur hospital until he completes medical treatment for a very complex pathology.

Later, it was found out that it was lupus. The magistrate added that the security at that health center should be increased, because Rexhepi has registered three life-threatening cases. But he did not mention their circumstances.

August 23, 2021 - Judge Poma supported the decision of Judge Dávila Gabino and asked the director of Hospital del Guasmo Sur and the IEVP doctor to report on the prisoner's health condition, the diseases he suffers, his prognosis and treatment. He called a procedural hearing for August 26, 2021 for those submissions.

August 26, 2021 - At the hearing, the Albanian's lawyer assured that his client has lupus and that this disease has complicated him. He said that the IEVP does not have the medications he needs and complained that the hospital wants to send him back to prison.

The doctor at the health center of this prison confirmed that he could not treat the Albanian's illness and stated that Rexhepi risks "death" if he returns to IEVP.

Judge Poma granted alternative measures to the Albanian and ordered his transfer to his home in Samborondón, a locality in Central Park, to serve his sentence. He ordered periodic, but not permanent, police surveillance and the use of handcuffs.

On the same day, he was issued the first release letter to continue "house arrest". But it was rejected, as the Albanian's names did not match those in the passport. He still went by the name Lulzim Murataj, a fake name, according to police.

August 27, 2021 - A second release decision is issued, which took effect days later.

August 30, 2021 - Judge Poma has received a report from the police, which guarantees that there is no risk of escaping to the Albanian's home. Rexhepi had not yet moved to his house.

September 9, 2021 - Rexhepi submitted another letter, where he complains about the handcuffs. He said he had gone to the doctor and that the device changes the verification of health symptoms. Judge Poma orders his handcuffs removed.

October 28, 2021 - Judge Poma accepted the pre-release of the Albanian. The defense of the defendant and the IEVP have presented the documentation.

To date, he had served 56.48% of his sentence, i.e. 7 years, 4 months and 2 days. Serving two-fifths of the sentence is one of the requirements.

But another thing is to be in the minimum security. The defense of the Albanian and the prison authorities claimed that Rexhepi was under "house arrest", which means that it is a minimum security regime.

Even in Latacunga prison it was at such a minimum, according to them. But by January 2021, it was learned that he was in a medium security prison.

The Albanian was arrested on June 26, 2014 in Ecuador and for this reason the judge stated that the Criminal Code should be applied in his case.

Judge Poma imposed the same conditions that his colleague on this case, Dávila Gabino, gave to the other two members of the gang, until the end of the entire sentence until June 26, 2027.

Regarding the requests for extradition, judge Poma ordered the police that "any arrest or extradition order that burdens the parolee must be executed until his responsibilities in Ecuador have been extinguished, i.e. he has served his prison sentence".

November 4, 2021 - A third release decision is issued this time for Rexhepi with another passport number.

November 10, 2022 - On that day, Rexhepi appeared for the last time in the office of Judge Poma, in the Guajaquili Prison Guarantee Judicial Unit, under the name Lulzim Murataj, one of his various identities, according to the investigative file.

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