An Ecuadorian court denied the habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of former presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez on Monday, keeping the leftist leader of the Citizen’s Revolution movement in prison without a sentence.
Judge Fabián Toscano announced the unanimous decision, declaring the action inadmissible because the parties had failed to demonstrate a violation of her right to freedom of movement.
“The tribunal unanimously declares the action inadmissible and therefore rejects the habeas corpus filed on behalf of Luisa Magdalena González Alciba,” the judge said.
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The ruling keeps Gonzalez behind bars with no conviction, a situation that has raised sharp questions about the independence of the judiciary and alleged political pressure on judges. Her defense and supporters describe the case as a clear example of lawfare, the use of legal proceedings to sideline a political rival.
🔴 Aquí el video en el que el juez da a conocer la negativa al hábeas corpus de Luisa González. La excandidata presidencial continuará en prisión, sin sentencia, en medio de cuestionamientos sobre la independencia judicial y las presiones políticas contra los jueces. Su abogado,… pic.twitter.com/FBTUSMdyVp
— Elena Rodríguez Yánez (@ElenaDeQuito) November 9, 2026
Text reads: “Here is the video in which the judge announces the refusal of habeas corpus by Luisa Gonzalez. The ex-presidential candidate will remain in prison, without sentence, amid challenges to judicial independence and political pressure against judges. His lawyer, Diego Guarderas announced that he will appeal the court decision to insist that Gonzalez can defend himself free.”
Political Persecution Alleged
Gonzalez has repeatedly insisted that the case against her is political and that it was ordered by President Daniel Noboa. The denial of habeas corpus did not change that position. After learning of the ruling, she reacted with a short message to her supporters, “Hold the flag high and keep fighting.”
Her lawyer, Diego Guardaras, announced that the defense will appeal the decision and continue pressing for the former candidate to face the process in freedom. Gabriela Rivadeneira, President of the Citizen’s Revolution movement, and Natasha Rojas, of the Popular Unity party, were among the political figures who expressed solidarity and support for Gonzalez after the ruling.
The case traces back to the early morning of October 22, when Gonzalez was apprehended in the coastal province of Manabí. National Police officers and agents of the Attorney General’s Office carried out the operation as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering tied to the financing of her 2023 presidential campaign.
Prosecutors are seeking to identify inconsistencies in how that campaign was funded. Gonzalez has rejected the accusations and framed her detention as retaliation for her political strength against Noboa, whom she faced in the 2025 presidential runoff.
🇪🇨*LUISA LIBRE* ✊
A mi país, a mis compañeros, amigos y a la militancia,
¡Gracias por sus muestras de cariño y apoyo! Sepan que con la mirada puesta en Dios, mi fe y esperanza de ver a mi país con justicia social, con paz y dignidad que mi pueblo se merece ¡siguen intactas!… pic.twitter.com/O6lafUf1cC
— Luisa González (@LuisaGonzalezEc) November 8, 2026
Text reads: “To my country, my comrades, friends and militancy, Thank you for your love and support! Know that with my gaze fixed on God, my faith and hope to see my country with social justice, with peace and dignity that my people deserve are still intact! That I am well and with the firm conviction that better days are coming than to fight for this beautiful Ecuador It is worth!…”
Detention Without Sentence
The day after her arrest, October 23, Gonzalez addressed her followers directly. “My commitment is and will be with you. I would stay with my people, fighting for better days, and that is what I have done,” she said at the time.
She went further, casting the government as a fading regime*. “Today I tell you with more faith and more hope, because this dictatorship based on hatred, destruction and persecution is nearing its end, and it will be gone very soon*,” she added.
Rights organizations have also weighed in. The Ecuadorian Network for Human Rights condemned what it called the arbitrary detention of Gonzalez and warned of political persecution in the country. Her defense argues that keeping a candidate in preventive custody without a sentence violates basic constitutional guarantees.
The habeas corpus appeal now moves to a higher court, where the defense will again argue that Gonzalez should be allowed to defend herself while free. Until that appeal is resolved, she remains confined, and the legal battle over her detention enters a new phase with no clear end in sight.
Her supporters maintain that the move is aimed at removing a leading opposition figure from the political stage. The appeal will test whether Ecuador’s courts offer any avenue for her release, or whether the prosecution’s money laundering case continues to hold her in custody through the appeals process and beyond.
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