Index on Censorship » Ecuador

Julian Assange granted political asylum in Ecuador

Padraig Reidy — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:57:02 +0000

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been granted political asylum in Ecuador. The Australian national, who has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for two months after breaching his bail conditions in the UK, is wanted in Sweden, where allegations of sexual assault have been made against him. The Ecuadorian foreign ministry said it was not confident that Assange would not be extradited to the United States should he return to Sweden. Assange has been heavily criticised in the US for publishing secret diplomatic cables, but as yet no charge has been brought against him. Private Bradley Manning, alleged to be the source of the cable leak, has been in the US since July 2010, where he faces several charges including “aiding the enemy”. Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa has previously appeared as a guest on Julian Assange’s Russia Today interview programme. The South American country has faced criticism for its record on free speech. UPDATE: The British Foreign Office has released this statement

We are disappointed by the statement from Ecuador’s Foreign Minister that Ecuador has offered political asylum to Julian Assange. Under our law, with Mr Assange having exhausted all options of appeal, the British authorities are under a binding obligation to extradite him to Sweden. We shall carry out that obligation. The Ecuadorian Government’s decision this afternoon does not change that. We remain committed to a negotiated solution that allows us to carry out our obligations under the Extradition Act.

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Ecuador: President Correa calls newspaper editor “wicked” in new verbal attack

Alice Purkiss — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 11:02:52 +0000

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa has personally attacked Gustavo Cortez, editor of the leading daily newspaper El Universo. During a TV broadcast on Saturday the President accused the newspaper editor of being “wicked” and “of having bad faith.” Whilst showing a photograph of the editor, Correa called on the people of Ecuador to remember Cortez as a “clear example of the bad press in the country.”

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Ecuador: Critical radio and TV stations closed down

Alice Purkiss — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:42:41 +0000

Critical TV and radio stations in Ecuador have been closed down, after authorities stormed the offices and seized equipment. Authorities of the Police and the Telecommunications Superintendence (SUPERTEL) in the North East of Ecuador closed TV station Lidervisión and Radio Líder. They arrived at Lidervisión headquarters with a warrant from SUPERTEL, and proceeded to search the office, breaking and confiscating broadcasting equipment. The radio and TV stations’ owner, Edison Chávez, says the stations were closed after falling behind on concession fees. But the he owner of the radio and TV frequencies has claimed that the closures were politically motivated.

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Panama: Ecuadoran newspaper publisher offered asylum

Marta Cooper — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:12:51 +0000

Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli offered asylum to Ecuadoran publisher Carlos Pérez Barriga, one of the owners of the El Universo newspaper. Last week Pérez was sentenced to three years in prison and 26m GBP in fines for defaming Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa. Emilio Palacio, the journalist who penned the editorial that provoked Correa’s libel complaint, has sought asylum in the US. Pérez’s brothers — who are co-owners — are also currently in the United States and reportedly fear returning to Ecuador.

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Ecuador: Pro-Correa libel verdict upheld

Marta Cooper — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:50:11 +0000

Ecuador‘s highest court has upheld a criminal libel verdict favouring President Rafael Correa, sentencing three newspaper executives and a columnist each to three years in prison ordering them to pay a total of around 26 million GBP in damages. The case was brought by Correa against opposition paper El Universo, which published a column that referred to the president as ”the Dictator”, claiming he “ordered discretionary fire — without prior notification — against a hospital full of civilians and innocent people” during a September 2010 police revolt over government plans to cut police benefits that claimed at least five lives. The verdict is not subject to appeal.

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Ecuador: Twitter user receives warning from government official

Alice Purkiss — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:12:19 +0000

A government official in Ecuador has issued a public warning against a Twitter user following posts on the micro-blogging site. Betty Escobar, an Ecuadorian citizen who lives in the United States was warned by Fernando Cordero, the President of the National Assembly, to ”change her language or she would soon regret her licentiousness.” The warning followed a critical tweet from Escobar to the official which said ”you are incompetent, you fail to comply with the law and you support the dictatorship! you and correa should go to prison for corruption! double standards. “

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Ecuador: President Correa goes after El Universo again

Sara Yasin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:48:00 +0000

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa has threatened to bring charges against the newspaper El Universo after publishing a letter critical of the Correa’s negative comments about María Leonor Jiménes, the Guaya Court of Justice president, on a radio program. The letter was written by legislator Cynthia Viteri, daughter of Jiménes, and in it she called the president “an ignorant coward, hypocrite and a bully”. Correa tweeted that “newspapers should not publish insults.” Earlier this year, Correa won a libel suit against El Universo, after a columnist criticised the president. The newspaper was handed a $40 million fine and prison sentences for the owner and the columnist.

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Ecuador: court upholds libel verdict against news executives

Alice Purkiss — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:11:19 +0000

An appeals court in Ecuador has upheld libel convictions and prison sentences for three newspaper directors and a former writer. El Universo newspaper published a column by Emilio Palacio that called President Rafael Correa a dictator. Fines of $42 million were also upheld by the judges against the executives of the newspaper. President Correa attended Tuesday’s court hearing and said that the ruling meant Ecuador has begun to free itself of a corrupt press. The defendants are free pending appeal. The Committee to Protect Journalists have called the decision a “blow to freedom of expression.”

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Ecuador: Seven radio stations face sanctions for airing free speech debate

Marta Cooper — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 10:40:31 +0000

The Ecuadorian Telecommunications Superintendency has announced it would seek to punish seven radio broadcasters for a simultaneous broadcast of a debate on free speech without first notifying the authorities. On Ecuador’s Independence Day (10 August), Ecuadoradio, a broadcaster owned by the El Comercio group that publishes the eponymous newspaper, organised a debate between several radio broadcasters to discuss President Rafael Correa‘s proposed communications bill, which would limit business interests of media companies and promotes government regulation of such companies. On the same day, several major Ecuadorian newspapers ran the same cover, titled “For Freedom of Expression”.

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Ecuador: Journalist sentenced to prison flees to Miami

Marta Cooper — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 09:52:01 +0000

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.

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