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55 police officers arrested over mutiny-turned-coup in Ecuador

Other News Materials 7 October 2010 06:45 (UTC +04:00)
Fifty-five police officers were arrested Wednesday and arrest warrants were issued for 253 others for insubordination last week, in a police mutiny that the Ecuadorian government insists was a coup attempt, dpa reported.
55 police officers arrested over mutiny-turned-coup in Ecuador

Fifty-five police officers were arrested Wednesday and arrest warrants were issued for 253 others for insubordination last week, in a police mutiny that the Ecuadorian government insists was a coup attempt, dpa reported.

Meanwhile, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa admitted Wednesday that there was a "general failure" in intelligence leading to the mutiny, and his Vice President Lenin Moreno said he was asked to take over power at the time.

  For hours on September 30, Correa was detained against his will at Quito's Police Hospital, surrounded by 30,000 police officers and some rank-and-file soldiers who had joined the mutiny.

   The Ecuadorian government has insisted that the mutiny was part of a broader coup attempt, which the mutineers deny, saying saying they were only protesting changes to their pay and benefits.

"There was indeed a coup attempt," Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary- general of the Organization of American States (OAS), said Wednesday in Washington. "It did not fail for lack of will by its perpetrators but for lack of political support, and because of the decision by the armed forces to support Correa's government."

If tried and convicted for their alleged roles in the mutiny, the officers arrested could face prison terms of one to six years.

Correa has alleged that there was a plot to kill him during the mutiny, and his legal advisor has sought a probe of a possible threat to the president's life.

Ecuador remains under a state of emergency until Friday, with the military guarding the presidential palace, the National Assembly building and other public places, while the police are subjected to further investigation.

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