UPDATE - Supreme Court Tribunal Upholds 8-Year Sentence Given To Ecuador's Ex-President - Reports

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2020) The cassation tribunal of Ecuador's Supreme Court has found ex-President Rafael Correa and former Vice President Jorge Glas guilty of incitement to bribery in a corruption case, upholding an earlier conviction of eight years in prison, Ecuador's El Universo newspaper reports.

"In record time they issue a 'final' sentence to disqualify me as a candidate. They don't understand that all they do is increase popular support. I'll be fine," Correa wrote on Twitter on Monday.

According to El Universo, hundreds of people with tricolor flags and pictures of Correa gathered on Monday afternoon at the National Court of Justice of Ecuador in the country's capital, Quito.

Another 16 people, apart from Correa and Glas, are under investigation in the corruption case, including businessmen and high-ranking officials from the ex-president's administration.

The National Court of Justice sentenced Correa and Glas to eight years in prison on corruption charges in April. Correa has been banned from politics for 25 years.

Prosecutors have accused Correa's center-left political party, Pais Alliance, of having received payments from businesses between 2012 and 2016 in return for lucrative government contracts. Correa has accused Ecuador's government of trying to stop him from running in next year's elections.