Abdalá Bucaram’s defense seeks to postpone hearing for more than 21 days

Abdalá Bucaram’s defense is asking Ecuador’s criminal court to delay the former president’s hearing until after Sept. 24, arguing that his health does not allow him to attend in person.

The hearing, which would only require the court to announce Bucaram’s sentence orally, had been scheduled for Sept. 3. The defense challenged the timetable set in a Sept. 1 court order, after six postponements in the proceedings against Bucaram, his son Jacobo and others in the Covid Tests case, which involves alleged organized crime.

Attorney Anthony Fernando González Rivadeneira formally assumed Bucaram’s legal representation and submitted the request to the Criminal Guarantees Court in Quito’s Iñaquito parish. He argued that the court should consider medical records before ordering the defendant to appear.

According to those records, Bucaram was taken to a medical facility on Aug. 25 after fainting. Doctors found that an implanted cardiac device had deteriorated and replaced it in surgery that same day. A medical report issued the following day also recorded kidney complications and high glucose levels, requiring specialists in nephrology and endocrinology.

One document ordered 30 days of absolute rest, from Aug. 26 through Sept. 24. The defense therefore requested an in-person hearing after that date. It said the hearing could take place earlier only if Bucaram’s treating doctors first certify that he is physically and mentally fit to participate. As an alternative, it proposed that he appear remotely from the hospital, with medical authorization. Bucaram has been under an arrest order since the night of Sept. 3, 2026.