By Ingrid Bachmann
A judge issued an order to capture Juan Alcívar, correspondent for the newspaper La Hora de Esmeraldas and the radio station El Nuevo Sol, who is accused of throwing a tear gas bomb in the compound where President Rafael Correa lead a political rally La Concordia in July, reported EFE and Radio Sucre
According to El Universo, Alcívar denied the accusations and said he was the victim of political persecution orchestrated by the mayor of La Concordia. The journalist also said that the day of the incident he was working with colleagues. “I did a few live-on-the-air spots, and suddenly they're accusing me of throwing this bomb."
Alcívar has chosen to remain in hiding. "I'm hiding because as long as I am free I can continue telling the truth," he said, as quoted in another article in El Universo.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.