Ecuador, anti-mafia law approved, sentences of up to 60 years

The Ecuadorian Parliament has approved, with 85 votes in favor and 61 against, the anti-mafia law, which toughens penalties against organized crime, providing for up to 60 years in prison for those convicted of at least three independent malicious crimes. The provision, promoted by the government, introduces the crime of functional membership of criminal organisations, punishable by a sentence of up to 22 years, which can rise to 26 in the presence of aggravating circumstances. There are also penalties of up to 13 years for illegal fuel trafficking, a ban on lawyers and accountants who facilitate mafias from practicing their profession and quicker procedures for the confiscation of assets of illicit origin.

The president of the Italian anti-mafia parliamentary commission, Chiara Colosimo, spoke during the plenary session, on the occasion of the debate and the final vote on the law, illustrating the Italian experience and the legislative model adopted to combat organized crime and illicit financial networks. Colosimo underlined the need to prevent mafia organizations from continuing to exercise their control even from prisons and from transmitting their power to subsequent generations. He also indicated the tracing of financial flows and the fight against illicit assets as some of the main strategies to combat new forms of organized crime. Former president Rafael Correa's Revolución Ciudadana movement voted against the law, contesting the approach based on tougher sentences.