Reuters —A court in Ecuador on Friday handed down prison sentences for five people found guilty of murdering presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. Journalist and former legislator Villavicencio was shot while leaving a rally in August 2023, becoming the most prominent victim of Ecuador’s spiraling violence. Both Angulo and Castillo were sentenced to 34 years and eight months. One of the hitmen died at the scene of Villavicencio’s murder and seven other suspects - mostly Colombian citizens - were murdered in October while being held in prisons on pre-trial detention. Villavicencio’s friends and family have decried multiple delays and urged investigation into who ordered the killing.

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Persons: Reuters —, Fernando Villavicencio, Villavicencio, Milton Maroto, Daniel Noboa, Carlos Edwin Angulo Lara, Laura Dayanara Castillo, Angulo, Castillo, Erick Ramirez, Victor Flores, Alexandra Chimbo, Veronica Sarauz Organizations: Reuters, Prosecutors, Los Locations: Ecuador, Los Lobos