56. On December 2, 2003, the National Police Court of Justice denied the appeals for clarification filed by Messrs. Villarroel Merino, Vinueza Pánchez, Ascázubi Albán and Coloma Gaibor, and the appeal for expansion filed by Mr. Coloma Gaibor, indicating the appeals were inadmissible. 68 57. On January 14, 2004, the Supreme Court of Justice decided that “[i]n criminal proceedings initiated prior to January 13, 2003, it was not admissible to issue the order for detención en firme referred to in [articles] 10, 16, 28 and 34 of Law 2003-101 amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, promulgated in Official Record No. 743 of January 13, 2003. Consequently, in such proceedings, the judge or court that was hearing the case should annul – as inoperative – the order for detención en firme that had been issued, even those orders included in the order to initiate a trial and, instead order or confirm pre-trial detention, and also annul this, when applicable, due to the expiration of the time frames established in [article] 24.8 of the Constitution of the Republic.”69 On January 9, 2004, the Supreme Court of Justice issued a ruling in which it indicated that “the amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure promulgated on January 13, 2003, are only applicable to trials initiated for offenses presumably perpetrated after that date, while the norms in force at the time a trial was initiated must be applied in trials that are already underway.”70 58. Subsequently, on January 27, 2004, the president of the NPCJ annulled the detención en firme ordered for Messrs. Villarroel Merino, López Ortiz, Ascázubi Albán, Coloma Gaibor and Vinueza Pánchez and, instead, confirmed their detention pursuant to article 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the National Civil Police (supra para. 35), ordering that the precautionary measure be served in the Equitation and Remount Unit of the National Police.71 59. On May 25, 2004, based on article 24.8 of the Ecuadorian Constitution (supra para. 31), the National Police Court of Justice decided the following: […] the immediate release of the accused Staff Police Colonel Leoncio Amílcar Ascázubi Albán, Staff Police Colonel Marcelo Fernando López Ortiz, Staff Police Colonel Jorge Enrique Coloma Gaibor and Staff Police Lieutenant Colonel Alfonso Patricio Vinueza Pánchez, without prejudice to continuing the criminal proceedings against them. Regarding the request for the release of Senior General (sp) Jorge Humberto Villarroel Merino, his release is denied because he has not served the time stipulated in art. 24.8 of the Constitution of the Republic.72 60. On May 25, 2004, constitutional orders were issued for the release of Messrs. Ascázubi Albán, López Ortiz, Coloma Gaibor and Vinueza Pánchez.73 Cf. Order of the National Court of Justice of the National Police, Case No. 36-PCJP-2002, of December 2, 2003 (evidence file, fs. 3514 to 3515). 68 69 Cf. Ruling issued by the Supreme Court of Justice on January 14, 2004 (evidence file, fs. 2526 and 2527). Cf. Ruling issued by the Supreme Court of Justice on January 9, 2004, and published in Official Record No. 258 of January 23, 2004 (evidence file, fs. 2518 to 2525). It added that “pre-trial detention as a personal precautionary measure established in the Code of Criminal Procedure is a provision of a procedural nature, which when substituted by “detención en firme” when the order to initiate a trial is issued, creates serious problems because, since the latter is a mechanisms that is unfavorable to the accused, cannot be applied retroactively, but only in trials that initiate after January 13, 2003, and, for those initiated previously, pre-trial detention is in order to be required or confirmed in the order to initiate a trial pursuant to art. 232.4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.” 70 Order of the National Court of Justice of the National Police, Case 36-PCJP-2002, of January 27, 2004 (evidence file, f. 3517). 71 72 3520). Order of the National Court of Justice of the National Police, Case 36-PCJP-2002, of May 25, 2004 (evidence file, f. Cf. National Court of Justice of the National Police, Case 36-PCJP-2002, Constitutional orders for the release of Messrs. Ascázubi Albán, López Ortiz, Coloma Gaibor and Vinueza Pánchez of May 25, 2004 (evidence file, fs. 3522 to 3525). 73 17