A seventh individual accused in Ecuador presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio assassination back in August met a grim fate, authorities said Saturday, AP reports.

This incident occurred just a day after six other suspects, allegedly connected to the same crime, were killed in a different prison.

The seven suspects were eliminated under mysterious circumstances, raising concerns as Ecuador approaches a presidential runoff election in a little over a week, with officials struggling to provide an explanation for these events.

The deceased individual was being held at a prison in Quito, Ecuador's capital. The authorities released minimal information regarding the incident, merely identifying the individual as "José M." without specifying his nationality.

In response to these incidents, President Guillermo Lasso convened an emergency meeting of his security Cabinet, which resulted in the decision to transfer the remaining six suspects connected to the assassination to an undisclosed prison for security reasons.

Additionally, the government took decisive action by relieving the prison system director and the police chief of investigations of their duties.

These tragic developments come at a critical juncture, as the Prosecutor's Office is on the verge of announcing the conclusion of the investigative phase into the Fernando Villavicencio assassination, who was killed while leaving a political rally on August 9.

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Six Sain Fernando Villavicencio Assassination Suspects Were Colombians

It is worth noting that the six suspects previously killed in the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil were all Colombian nationals and were accused of the murder of the former Ecuador presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, as confirmed by the SNAI prisons agency.

Ecuador's government has unequivocally condemned the prison killings, and President Guillermo Lasso publicly pledged to ensure that there would be "neither complicity nor cover-up" in the pursuit of justice for the suspects involved in the Villavicencio case.

"Here, the truth will be known," Lasso emphasized, according to Al Jazeera.

The president also made the decision to temporarily cancel his visit to Seoul and return from his trip to New York, where he had arrived on Thursday, to address this incident.

Ecuador's government remains resolute in its determination to identify those responsible for Fernando Villavicencio assassination.

Fernando Villavicencio Assassination

Fernando Villavicencio, a renowned journalist known for his unrelenting exposés on corruption and organized crime, met a tragic end in August.

On the day of the assassination, six individuals were apprehended, and one suspect lost his life. Subsequently, an additional seven suspects were arrested in connection to the case.

Villavicencio had built his career on fearless reporting, exposing corruption within political circles and among influential business figures.

Prior to his untimely demise, he had openly confronted the Albanian mafia and an individual known as Fito, a leader of the Los Choneros gang, per Reuters.

The Minister of the Interior announced on Friday that a comprehensive investigative police report concerning Fernando Villavicencion assassination had been completed.

However, this report has not yet been made public.

Despite not being considered one of the frontrunners in the initial round of the election on August 20, the brazen daylight killing of the 59-year-old politician was a stark and unsettling reminder of the surge in crime plaguing Ecuador.

Villavicencio had disclosed receiving threats from associates of the Mexico-based Sinaloa drug cartel, one of several international organized crime entities operating within Ecuador.

Ecuador is now preparing for its upcoming runoff presidential election scheduled for October 15. This runoff will feature the two leading candidates from the initial August vote: leftist Luisa González and former lawmaker Daniel Noboa, who happens to be the son of a prominent banana magnate.

READ MORE: Ecuador Gang Held 50 Prison Guards, 7 Police Officers Hostage for Over a Day 

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

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