Ecuador President Dissolves Supreme Court

By MONTE HAYES
The Associated Press
Saturday, April 16, 2005; 5:37 AM

QUITO, Ecuador - President Lucio Gutierrez declared a state of emergency in the capital city of this Andean Mountain country and dissolved a Supreme Court he and his allies had appointed last winter, saying the unpopular judges were the cause of three days of pot-banging street protests in Quito.

Although they had opposed the court that was stacked by Gutierrez, his political foes immediately labeled its summary dissolution an act of a dictator.

Speaking in a televised address to the nation Friday night with his military high command standing behind him, Gutierrez said he was using the powers granted him by the constitution to dismiss the justices. In explaining their dismissal, he said opposition to their appointments was causing the protests.

"The measure ... was taken because congress until now has not resolved the matter of the current Supreme Court, which is generating national commotion," he said.

The state of emergency placed the military in charge of public order and suspended individual rights, including the right to free expression and public assembly.