Assange's friend Ola Bini, long detained in Ecuador, called to trial

[Resurgence]

Last week, Pichincha criminal judge Yadira Proaño called Swedish computer scientist Ola Bini to trial, prosecuted for the alleged crime of non-consensual access to a computer, telematic or telecommunications system. The Swedish defense filed a complaint for procedural fraud, finding proof that the ‘evidence’ with which the process was initiated was forged by public bodies.

A report by Edgar Romero published by RT, explains that the case of Ola Bini has been a long process against him, since the call to trial occurs more than two years after his arrest, which occurred on April 11, 2019, the same day that Julian Assange, his friend, was stripped of his diplomatic asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and arrested by the British Police.

More than 800 days have passed since the beginning of the process against Bini. The young Swede was arrested at the Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito, when he was about to board a plane bound for Japan.

Bini’s lawyer, Carlos Soria, has pointed out on several occasions the irregularities that occurred since the beginning of the case, such as – for example – that “in the same order of retention by the prosecutor it was established, in the first paragraph, that he (Bini) was Russian; and in the second paragraph, of Swiss nationality; and they ended up arresting a Swede».

Furthermore, according to his lawyer, «his rights were not read to him in his mother tongue», as established by the Constitution, and he was not informed of the reason for the arrest.

For 71 days he was detained in the El Inca prison, in Quito, until on June 20, 2019, the provincial judges accepted a petition for habeas corpus, which allowed him to defend himself in freedom.



The accusations against Bini


Soria, in an interview with GK this Wednesday, recalled that Bini was initially accused of «interference in computer systems of the Ecuadorian Government» or alleged attack on the integrity of systems.

The same month Bini was arrested, the then president of Ecuador, Lenín Moreno, in a debate at the Inter-American Dialogue – a think tank specialized in Latin America based in Washington (US) – said that the Swede was caught ‘hacking’ government and personal accounts.

Also, in an interview with journalist Patricia Janiot, the now ex-president indicated that Bini was found with evidence that would be analyzed, adding that the young man frequently visited Assange at the Embassy and that surely he received instructions on what he had to do.

However, later, Soria mentioned in his recent interview, that they changed the criminal offense and began to prosecute him for non-consensual access to a computer system, a crime typified in article 234 of the Comprehensive Organic Penal Code (COIP). which is punishable by imprisonment of three to five years.

To support the accusation, the Prosecutor’s Office presented more than 70 elements of conviction last December against Bini, which include, according to a press release of the institution, «expert reports on forensic computing and audio and video, the international criminal assistance required from the United States, through which information was extracted from one of the processing devices; in addition to versions, official letters from the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the Financial and Economic Analysis Unit (UAFE) and other public and private entities”.

The Prosecutor’s Office adds that, according to its investigation, Bini had accessed the system of the National Telecommunications Corporation (CNT) without authorization or consent, with the aim of “trying to obtain information from the digital content of the platforms of the Public Company Petroecuador and the then National Intelligence Secretariat (Senain)."



Political persecution and procedural fraud against Ola Bini


Soria has insisted that there is a political persecution against Bini, related to the Assange case. He was an instrument of the political power of the moment to justify actions that were carried out that same day (April 11, 2019), referring to the arrest of Assange, about whom he says was kicked out of the Embassy of Ecuador.

Furthermore, Soria considers that serious violations of due process have been committed against the Swedish citizen in this case. Last week, the defense filed a complaint with the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) for procedural fraud, finding documentary evidence» that supports that the ‘evidence’ with which the process against Bini was initiated was forged or prepared by public bodies, which would include the National Police of Ecuador.

Specifically, Soria points out that the supposed call with which this whole process began did not exist. He is referring to an alleged telephone conversation, which appears in the case file, made by a person identified with the alias Marco at 1-800-CRIME, who informs the authorities that he knows Bini, that he worked with WikiLeaks, was a friend of Assange and was about to leave the country; information in which, says the lawyer, «there is no crime of any kind».

This supposed call is the one that activates, in an urgent act, the entire Prosecutor’s Office and they carry out the operation to arrest Ola Bini, says Soria.

He mentions that the defense realized that they «elaborated» that evidence to arrest Bini when they requested the recording of the call – which is mandatory – and the Police replied that it was impossible to have access to the conversation because just that day the technological apparatus (that recorded) was not working. However, then the lawyers ask for a certification (of that fact) and the same institution says that the equipment was working that day.

Soria emphasizes that it is time for all the people who were involved in the case of Ola to create this type of false evidence to be able to arrest him, to pay. According to his criteria, responsibilities should fall from the highest political figure to the lowest administrative figure who lent himself to this fraud.

According to article 272 of the COIP, the crime of procedural fraud is committed when a person hides the instruments or evidence, changes the state of things, places or people in order to mislead in a judicial process, and is punished with one to three years in prison.



Process delay


Last April, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), in its 2020 Annual Report, expressed its concern about the delay in the process against the Swede.

Specifically, the pronouncement came from the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, which said it considered “worrying that during 2020 the process against the computer activist Ola Bini, whose preparatory trial hearings were suspended and rescheduled at least five times."

The preparatory hearing was suspended in December 2020.

On June 22, Soria filed a challenge against Judge Proaño and an hour later, according to the lawyer, the Judge called for the reinstatement of the hearing that took place on Tuesday, June 29.



https://www.elciudadano.com/en/ola-bini-...him/07/07/