It is 15 days after the death of Noemí Arcentales, 23 years old. The family fought for their case not to be treated as suicide but as murder. LA HORA presents 10 facts to understand what happened.
1.- Naomi Arcentales had interposed a rape complaint against three people (two of them as perpetrators and one as an accomplice) for an alleged sexual assault that occurred months ago in an apartment in Manta. The alleged aggressors are identified as Quevedo businessmen (The rivers). Naomi’s defense had indicated that there were unjustified delays on the part of the Prosecutor’s Office in this case. In fact, the hearing to formulate charges against the suspects will only take place on January 5, 2022.
2.- On Sunday, December 12: Naomi Arcentales is found dead inside an apartment in a building in Manta. Jorge Luis Ortega, who defended Naomi in her cause for sexual violence, makes known on Twitter about her death. He talks to La Hora a day later and points out more details. She says “she had a meeting” and that at 06:00 on Sunday he had locked himself in his bedroom. He also tells that the couple from Arcentales, José Luis Izquierdo, slept in an adjoining room. “At 3:00 pm when he wakes up, he knocks on the door and cannot enter. He asks for help from the administration, they arrive, they help him to enter and they find Naomi’s body hanged with the television cable ”. Confirmation of the autopsy was expected for alleged “suicide.”
3.- On December 13, the Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement in which it indicated that “according to the result of the autopsy carried out por Criminalistics, it would be a suicide, because no traces of abuse, blows or signs of violence or defense were observed on his body, or stabbing, as has circulated on social networks ”. In the text, the entity indicates that a pre-trial investigation was initiated to clarify the death of Naomi. There he talks about the activation of the “Protocol for the investigation of femicides and other crimes that involve violent deaths of women and girls ”, recently implemented by the Institution. That same day, the Prosecutor’s Office requests that a date be set for the hearing to formulate charges against two of the three accused of sexual assault against Naomi.
#ATTENTION | #Manabí: #ProcuratorEc applies “Protocol for investigation of femicides and other violent deaths of women” in relation to the death of Naomi A. Autopsy report determines an apparent suicide. More errands are running. Details ⬇️https://t.co/aveppmbO3Z pic.twitter.com/fgYLQeJ6mF
– Ecuador Prosecutor’s Office (@FiscaliaEcuador) December 14, 2021
4.- On December 15, Naomi’s father, Ray Arcentales, presents before the Guayas Prosecutor’s Office the complaint for the crime of murder in the Naomi case. The family indicates that their only lawyer is Luigi García Cano. The action is entered as “news criminis”, that is, to inform the authorities of a crime, and They ask the Prosecutor’s Office to initiate a process to find the possible perpetrators. That day the Prosecutor’s Office is also asked to carry out the exhumation of the corpse.
5.- On December 16, Naomi’s sister, Tais Arcentales, wrote a series of tweets. They ask that the investigations be delegated to a different fiscal agent outside of Manabí. Naomi’s partner is a prosecutor in El Carmen (Manabí) and had worked in other cantons in that province. The idea was to avoid contamination of the case.
We request, if possible, to delegate a tax agent other than the place where the events took place, since the person under investigation, when exercising the functions of prosecutor in said canton, would have links with the procedural subjects who would intervene.@ DianaSalazarM2
– Tais Arcentales Sabando (@TaisArcentales) December 16, 2021
6.- On December 17 and 18, Tais makes public several chats in which Naomi tells of alleged physical and psychological aggressions by her partner. Sara Sabando, mother of Naomi Arcentales, told the press that day that her daughter “She had bruises on her hands, when we checked her carefully, we found signs of blows on her crotch, and this did not appear in the autopsy.”
If he didn’t trust her, why didn’t he just leave her alone?
Why was she mistreating him?
Did I give you freedom?#JusticeForNaomi #Not one less pic.twitter.com/uYFn49JO8q
– Tais Arcentales Sabando (@TaisArcentales) December 18, 2021
That day, through a story on Instagram, Juan Carlos Izquierdo also published a message, but this time with religious connotations. “God grants us the strength we need in the midst of our difficulties and trials. He puts a protective shield around us that his help and his defense will come at the right time, “he wrote. Then, he deleted his social networks.
7.- On December 19, the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, pronounced on the death of the young woman. The President, through his Twitter account, asked that the truth be known about the death of the young woman. That day a security video is revealed of the building where his partner’s apartment is, in which an alleged aggression by the prosecutor is shown, who gives Naomi Arcentales a slap as she approached walking towards him. The president of the Judiciary Council, María del Carmen Maldonado, announced that the temporary suspension of Juan Carlos Izquierdo, a prosecutor in Manabí, has been ordered.
8.- On December 20, Naomi’s family lawyer reported that on Tuesday, December 21, Izquierdo’s version was to be taken. The diligence was not carried out via Zoom. It was delayed to Wednesday and finally came to fruition on Thursday, December 23. The attorney for the prosecutor, Julio Cueva, cHe told La Hora that his client remained in Ecuador and that “he has not gone abroad.” as reported on social media. In fact, he sent a photograph to the LA HORA office as proof of his stay in the country.
December 9 – 21. The prosecution the reception of Juan Carlos Izquierdo’s version is delayed for December 22. The victim’s family members concentrated on the outskirts of the Manta Prosecutor’s Office, where the diligence had to be carried out, despite the fact that the Prosecutor’s Office ordered that the investigations be carried out from Guayaquil, to avoid contamination of the case. Feminist collectives also arrived and demanded justice.
December 10-22. Naomi’s body was exhumed from the Pedernales cemetery and transferred to Quito for a second autopsy. The woman’s family moved to Quito. His mother asked for transparency. The forensic analysis was completed on Thursday and the results are expected in the next few days.
