Belgium Grants Political Asylum To Ex President Rafael Correa

On Friday, Christophe Marchand, the lawyer for Ecuador's former President Rafael Correa, confirmed that the leftist politician will remain in Belgium as a political asylee.

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In a resolution dated April 15, the General Commissariat of Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) granted Correa refugee status in Belguica, a country where he has been residing since 2017 accompanied by his wife Ann Malherbe, a Belgian citizen.

Marchand explained that the asylum request was filed in 2018, when Correa was mentioned in the "Balda Case" that is being processed in the Ecuadorian courts with regard to the alleged kidnapping of an opposition politician occurred in 2012.

In order to process the asylum application, the Belgian authorities asked Correa to present the documentation on the criminal cases against him with political motives.

His lawyer declared himself "happy" with the resolution of this case since, after 25 years of practising his profession, he knows "how difficult it is for Belgium to grant political asylum".

After ruling Ecuador from 2007 to 2017, Correa left for Belgium because in his country he faces an eight-year prison sentence and political disqualification for the case "Bribes 2012-2016". 

The political persecution against the leftist leader, however, has not stopped. On Friday, Ecuador's National Court of Justice President Ivan Saquicela formally requested the extradition of Correa, who was sentenced in 2020 to eight years in prison for bribery.