A week after being arrested for allegedly slandering Attorney General Washington Pesántez in a blog post, Víctor Vizcaíno Luzuriaga was freed pending trial by a judge, El Diario and Radio Sucre report.
ABC newspaper reports that its journalist, Jorge Torres, is being sued for defamation, libel, and slander for stories alleging misuse of funds by a federal agency in Paraguay.
Journalist Walter Vite, who was convicted April 27 to a year in prison and a $500 fine for allegedly libeling a mayor, has initiated a hunger strike to demand his release, the Associated Press and Ecuadorinmediato report.
A state judge in Brazil's Federal District (DF) sentenced Editora Abril – the company that publishes Veja magazine – and journalist Diego Escosteguy to pay $64,000 in damages to ex DF Governor Joaquim Roriz, reports Consultor Jurídico. The court ruled that Veja magazine used offensive language in a story that discussed the politician.
Brazil’s National Union of Islamic Bodies (UNI) launched an online campaign to gather 5,000 signatures in order to sue Veja magazine for the April 6 article “Brazil’s Terror Network.”
Journalist Paul Garay Ramírez, a correspondent for La Exitosa radio and the host of “Controversy” on Visión 47 TV, was sentenced to three years in prison for accusing prosecutor Agustín López of corruption, La República reports.
Last week the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) released a report criticizing the use of libel laws in Ecuador to silence critical speech, prompting Ecuador to reject the report, saying the commission was acting outside of its jurisdiction, Terra reports.
Journalist Luis Zabala Farell, who has been in jail since January on charges of instigating violence on his radio show, has said his accusers are intentionally delaying his hearings to keep him in prison and off the air, Bolivia’s National Press Association (ANP) reports via IFEX.
Dissident Cuban journalist Albert Santiago Du Bouchet, who had been in jail since 2009 for defamation, was freed by the Cuban authorities and exiled to Spain, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports. The government had already released the journalists who were among the 52 dissidents jailed during the 2003 “Black Spring” crackdown.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) criticized President Rafael Correa for suing journalists and media executives, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged him to withdraw the legal complaints.