Tulcán -
A group of professional cyclists led a protest this morning in Tulcán to demand justice for the death of Rubén Tatés, a young promise of cycling in Carchi who was run over on Wednesday while training on the road.
Tatés (18 years old) was training with his brother Ricardo when they were hit by a vehicle whose driver was detained. However, he was released after the afternoon hearing, which outraged the local population, who gathered on Thursday at Ayora Park for a massive protest.
After the meeting, cyclists like Jonathan Caicedo and Richard Carapaz were received by Richard Mora, president of the Carchi Justice Court, to express their discontent with the resolution.
Among the group of professionals who attended the protest were also Alexander Cepeda and Jorge Montenegro. The elite cyclists received a special permit from the Tulcán municipality in May to resume their training amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Local authorities and other former figures of Carchi cycling supported the cyclists' claim.
Protest in response to the audacity of the judicial system we have in our country and in solidarity with our fallen brother on the roads, Rubén Tatés. #Carchi#NoMásImpunidad#Respeto #respect pic.twitter.com/LD6x77jn3I
— Urban Cycling Quito (@CiclismoQ) June 4, 2020
Lenín Pazos, lawyer for the Tatés family, spoke about the process being followed in this case. "Legally, in traffic matters, the prosecutors have somehow taken the police report as an absolute reference, which has become absolute truth, and that is what has us in these dramas," he said.
According to Pazos, the evidence "that allows us to reconstruct the facts, the damage in this case to the vehicle and the bicycle, the skid marks and the location of the vehicles were not considered. With that, we could have a better understanding of how the accident could have happened," he said.
Pazos mentioned that there was a frontal impact in the accident, "which implies that the bicycle was on its path and was hit unexpectedly. We deduce that it was hit at excessive speed; however, the investigator claims that the cyclist was responsible for the accident," he explained.
The lawyer stated that in the continuation of the process, they will request the reconstruction of the facts from the prosecutor, "to be able to contrast it with the report that we consider hasty and superficial, as presented by the police, and to have elements for the prosecutor to be conditioned to file charges against the person who caused this incident," he said. (D)