Ecuadorās Chief Prosecutor Galo Chiriboga on Wednesday said his office has received reports that former lawmaker Tito Galo Lara YĆ©pez, who fled his country after being convicted in a murder trial, may be hiding in Costa Rica.
Chiriboga said prosecutors sent documents regarding the case to judicial authorities in Costa Rica, and that āinternational contacts were made to find Laraās whereabouts in the country,ā the Ecuadorean daily La Hora reported.
Costa Ricaās Judicial Investigation Police on Wednesday evening confirmed they are aware of an Interpol red notice on Galo Lara, who had been living in Panama, where heĀ was granted asylum in October afterĀ leaving Ecuador.
Galo Lara’s entry in Costa Rica allegedly occurred following Panamaās decision on May 19 to revoke asylum for the former politician.
Galo Lara was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison after a court convicted him of being an accomplice to the murder of three members of a family in the province of Los RĆos in 2011.
An investigation determined that Galo Laraās wife, Carolina Llanos, was the mastermind behind the killings and the one who paid Ā hit men to commit the crime. Llanos was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2013.
After fleeing Ecuador, Galo Lara filed a complaint with the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights (ICHR), arguing that his human rights were being violated and claiming he “was being persecuted by his countryās government.ā
Chief Prosecutor Chiriboga at the time denied the accusations, saying Galo Laraās case was not political and therefore the ICHR should not intervene. A criminal court in Ecuador already had issued a final ruling in the case, Chiriboga said.
