Ecuador is defending its storming of Mexico’s Embassy in Quito last month. Lawyers for Ecuador told the judges at the International Court of Justice on Wednesday that it acted to take into custody “a common criminal” — Ecuador’s former vice president — who was holed up inside the diplomatic post.

People attend a public hearing where Mexico is set to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue emergency measures against Ecuador over the armed raid on the Mexican embassy, which Mexico says is a violation of international law,