Former Ecuadorean President Lucio Gutierrez was released from jail Friday after a judge cleared him of charges of endangering national security by insisting he remained the country’s rightful leader.
A crowd of supporters in a Quito courtroom cheered as the judge ordered the release of Gutierrez, who was jailed in October for saying that his ouster by Congress and replacement by current President Alfredo Palacio last April was illegal.
Running for president again
Gutierrez, who says he will run for president again in October’s election but is trailing in polls, was fired by Congress for meddling with the Supreme Court, leading to his replacement by his former vice president Palacio.
The former army colonel and coup leader was elected in 2002 on a left-wing plank but alienated supporters with free-market policies and a close alliance with the United States.
Gutierrez has only single-digit support in opinion polls.
“I want to thank God and the Ecuadorean people, who have never stopped supporting me,” Gutierrez told local television in a live broadcast of the court ruling. “We will win this year’s election.”
Dozens of supporters inside the court room shouted “Lucio for president.”