The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has released a report criticizing pending Ecuadorian electoral reforms that will prohibit the press from covering political campaigns and elections. According to CPJ, the electoral reform will go into effect Saturday, Feb. 4.
The Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa, has been heavily criticized by defenders of free speech and freedom of the press, but he has discredited their allegations.
The CPJ report explains, "This reform denies Ecuadorian citizens the right to stay informed over elections, and represents the most recent example of the deterioration of freedom of the press under Correa."
According to the website Periodistas en Español, the Forum of Ecuadorian Journalists (FOPE) says that under the reforms, “almost all journalistic work that is broadcast or published during political campaigns could be considered illegal.”
The newspaper La Hora reported that the non-governmental Ecuadorian organization Fundamedios has filed a complaint to the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court alleging that the reforms are unconstitutional.
In the complaint, Fundamedios said that the reforms represented a long list of serious threats to Ecuadorian citizens.
