Six guilty of assassination attempt on Ecuador president

A court in Ecuador has convicted six police officers of attempting to assassinate President Rafael Correa during a 2010 rebellion that left 10 people dead and 274 wounded.

During the police mutiny, which erupted over bonus cuts, protesting officers besieged Correa for 12 hours inside a hospital where he had taken refuge, killing one of his bodyguards and opening fire on his armored car as he finally escaped with an elite rescue unit.

Prosecutor Gustavo Benitez said the six convicted police had all been caught on video with "weapons, their faces covered and ready to open fire on the president." In all, 40 people have now been convicted of involvement in the rebellion.

The six convicted yesterday are currently in detention and are expected to be sentenced in the coming days. They face prison terms of eight to 12 years.

At the time, Correa, a socialist who has been in power since 2007, blamed the rebellion on supporters of Lucio Gutierrez, an ex-army colonel who was president from 2003 to 2005, and said the mutinous police wanted to stage a coup.