The Ecuadorian president refuses to hand over a defendant who defrauded Facebook's founder

science and technology

A report by the Reuters news agency that Ecuadorian President "Lenin Moreno" refused to hand over Paul Siegelia accused of forging a contract that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg sold him half the company, when he was a student at Harvard University.

According to the site Engadget In the United States, Seleja, a wood merchant, was able to escape in 2015 before his trial to remain hidden for three years before his arrest in Ecuador in 2018. He then agreed with the United States to extradite him in November 2018, but the shock response from the Ecuadorian president was rejected.

"In the exercise of national sovereignty, the principle of reciprocity in public international law, and for humanitarian reasons, I ask you to refuse extradition," Moreno wrote to the interior minister.

At present, he will remain in prison in Ecuador, where he has sought asylum.

Ecuador has always refused to extradite the accused to the United States despite their agreement. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was granted asylum and spent seven years hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy after facing charges of sexual assault and rape.