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QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ex-President Rafael Correa asked for international protection Friday after an Ecuadorean judge ordered that he be jailed for missing a court date, even though the former leader is living in Europe.
Correa appealed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for protection, saying he is in grave danger from the criminal prosecution. While in power, he denounced the commission as being illegitimate.
A judge in Ecuador ordered Correa's arrest and extradition from Belgium after he failed to appear for legal proceedings in connection with a kidnapping case.
Correa has not been charged with a crime, but officials requested he appear periodically in court in Ecuador's capital as they investigate the botched 2012 kidnapping of his former political rival Fernando Balda.
The 55-year-old Correa lives in his wife's native Belgium.
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