A court in Ecuador has ratified a six-month prison sentence against a radio broadcaster accused of defaming a doctor two years ago, according to IFEX.
Human Rights Watch asked the Ecuadorian government to repeal all insult and defamation laws against public officials, the New York-based human rights organization announced.
The director of an organization that defends freedom of expression in Ecuador received death threats on Nov. 11, according to a report from the EFE news agency.
With Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa increasingly critical of the media, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in October issued a "freedom resolution" calling on the government to "reverse recent trends that seriously undermine a free and independent press in Ecuador, by repealing criminal defamation, putting a stop to all forms of harassment against journalists and guaranteeing the full independence of the media in the country."
The Human Rights Foundation sent a letter to the judges of the Second Criminal Chamber of Ecuador’s National Court of Justice asking them to accept an appeal of the libel sentence against journalist Emilio Palacio and the owners of the El Universo newspaper, reported the same organization. The accused face three years in prison and $40 million in damages.
On Tuesday, Oct. 25, a group of journalists and organizations defending human rights appeared at a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), in Washington D.C., to present the problems that are affecting freedom of expression in Ecuador.
A columnist in Ecuador claimed censorship when his newspaper decided not to publish one of his pieces, saying they wanted to "avoid legal trouble," according to the organization Fundamedios.
The journalist Juan Carlos Calderon, co author of the book El Gran Hermano (Big Brother), was threatened via telephone by an anonymous source, according to Fundamedios. The journalist was threatened: “You will be next.”
One year after the alleged attempted coup d’etat that shook Ecuador on Sept. 30, 2010 (known as 30S), Fundamedios published a report about attacks against the media and freedom of expression in the country. The report studies attacks before and after 30S, and shows a significant increase in the number of aggressions against journalists in the last year.
Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa threatened to bring yet another charge against the embattled newspaper El Universo after it published a provocative letter by an assembly member, according to the group Fundamedios.
Rafael Correa raged against the press during his speech at the World Leaders Forum at Columbia University in New York.
With two votes in favor and one abstention, a court in Ecuador upheld a sentence of three years in prison and $40 million in damages against an ex-columnist and three directors of the newspaper El Universo.