[JURIST] Former president of Ecuador Lucio Gutierrez [Wikipedia profile] was arrested Friday evening upon his return to the Pacific coast city of Manta. Gutierrez, 48, was arrested on an order that he posed a threat to national security; he was taken to a prison in the capital, Quito. Gutierrez calmly complied with Ecuador police who boarded his plane after landing, but said that his arrest was “totally illegal, totally unconstitutional.” Last April, Gutierrez disbanded the Supreme Court of Ecuador [JURIST report] and declared a state of emergency, prompting Ecuador Congress's to remove him from office [JURIST report] just five days later. The ousted president, who fled to Brazil on April 24 [JURIST report], sought refuge in Peru and Colombia, where he was granted political asylum on October 4. Gutierrez has accused his successor, former vice-president Alfredo Palacio [Wikipedia profile], of illegally assuming power and fabricating charges against him. Gutierrez was the third Ecuadorian president to be ousted since 1997. AP has more.