Index on Censorship » Rafael Correa

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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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: 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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Ecuador: Journalist facing jail presents video evidence against president

Marta Cooper — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:09:37 +0000

Columnist Emilio Palacio, who was last month sentenced to three years in prison and fined 40 million USD for calling Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa a “dictator,” presented a video to the district attorney on 18 August that he will use to appeal his sentence. Palacio presented an anonymous video in which Correa orders his agents to take control of police strikes and protests in September. In the video, Correa states that those responsible should be “shot in the chest for treason”. Palacio said the video contradicts the president’s original testimony that he did not order the military to fire on protesting police officers.

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Ecuador: President criticises press, papers call for free expression

Marta Cooper — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:12:48 +0000

Several major Ecuadorian newspapers ran the same cover on 10th August, titled “For Freedom of Expression”, in protest against President Rafael Correa’s increasing verbal and legal attacks on independent media. The President devoted 42 minutes of his State of the Union speech to criticism of the press, and during his weekly TV broadcast also urged the public to file lawsuits against what he called the “corrupt press”, name-checking reporter Jeanette Hinostroza for having commented on political negotiations related to appointments within the National Assembly.

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Ecuador: Media legislation threatens to curtail expression

Intern — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:44:35 +0000

The Ecuadorian government commissioned a series of television adverts which accuse the private media of distorting the truth. Local reports claim that President Rafael Correa was deliberately portraying the private media in a negative light in anticipation of the final debate of the government’s telecommunications bill. The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) claims that the new laws will foster prior censorship and authorise the state to commission a political organ with the power to punish the private media arbitrarily.

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