The Ecuadorian deputy foreign minister, Marco Albuja, has confirmed that Ecuador will treat an extradition request from the Belarusian government for a former financial crimes investigator, Aliaksandr Barankov, with the same respect for human rights that guided its actions in the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
“Ecuador will put emphasis on not extraditing a citizen whose life is at risk, from the death penalty or life in prison,” Albuja told reporters.
Barankov is backed by activists in Belarus , where President Lukashenko has ruled for 18 years by, fixing elections, quashing free speech, jailing dissidents and keeping 80 percent of industry in state hands.
Barankov has been seeking asylum in Ecuador after he uncovered an oil-smuggling ring which led back to relatives of the president.
Speaking on the cases of Barankov and Jullian Assange, the Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa, said that Ecuador rejects “any attack on human rights, or political persecution”, and went on to say that “Ecuador doesn’t negotiate its principles, its values or human rights and it’s not going to negotiate in this case”.
Less than a year ago the Ecuadorian high court rejected a request to extradite Barankov and the verdict for the second extradition request, which is due in a few days, looks promising for Barankov.
