QUITO, June 8 (Xinhua) -- An Ecuadorian criminal court on Friday upheld a six-year jail sentence handed to former Vice President Jorge Glas, who was convicted of accepting bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
Ecuador's Prosecutor General's Office said via Twitter the court had rejected an appeal submitted by Glas in January, and ratified the conviction and sentence.
Glas has been in preventive custody since Oct. 2, 2017, on charges of accepting some 13.5 million U.S. dollars in exchange for granting Odebrecht lucrative public works contracts between 2012 and 2016, when he served in ex-president Rafael Correa's government (2007-2017).
Glas, surrounded by legislators loyal to him, was at the National Court of Justice to hear the ruling, and vowed to fight it.
"Everything is manipulated, this is a sham," he told reporters, adding that he would continue to pursue an annulment at the national court and even international courts.
His lawyer Eduardo Franco also rejected the decision by posting on twitter that "the appeals court continued the injustice against Jorge Glas. They ratified an arbitrary sentence."
Glas was sentenced to six years in December 2017. Before becoming vice president in 2013, he was coordinating minister of strategic sectors.
