Ecuador: Journalist sentenced to prison flees to Miami

30 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost

After being sentenced to three years in prison for defamation, an Ecuadorian journalist has fled the country and sought refuge in Miami, according to newspaper reports. Emilio Palacio of El Universo, who was sued for criticising President Rafael Correa, arrived in the United States on 24 August. “I’d have to be blind to not understand that they want me behind bars,” he said in a letter spread via Twitter on 28 August. Meanwhile, El Universo has published a letter directed at President Correa asking him to stop the legal action against the journalist.

Ecuador: Journalist facing jail presents video evidence against president

23 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost

Columnist Emilio Palacio, who was last month sentenced to three years in prison and fined 40 million USD for calling Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa a “dictator,” presented a video to the district attorney on 18 August that he will use to appeal his sentence. Palacio presented an anonymous video in which Correa orders his agents to take control of police strikes and protests in September. In the video, Correa states that those responsible should be “shot in the chest for treason”. Palacio said the video contradicts the president’s original testimony that he did not order the military to fire on protesting police officers.

Ecuador: President criticises press, papers call for free expression

15 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost

Several major Ecuadorian newspapers ran the same cover on 10th August, titled “For Freedom of Expression”, in protest against President Rafael Correa’s increasing verbal and legal attacks on independent media. The President devoted 42 minutes of his State of the Union speech to criticism of the press, and during his weekly TV broadcast also urged the public to file lawsuits against what he called the “corrupt press”, name-checking  reporter Jeanette Hinostroza for having commented on political negotiations related to appointments within the National Assembly.

Ecuador: Media legislation threatens to curtail expression

12 Jul 10 | Index Index, minipost

The Ecuadorian government commissioned a series of television adverts which accuse the private media of distorting the truth. Local reports claim that President Rafael Correa was deliberately portraying the private media in a negative light in anticipation of the final debate of the government’s telecommunications bill. The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) claims that the new laws will foster prior censorship and authorise the state to commission a political organ with the power to punish the private media arbitrarily.