New York, March 29, 2010—An Ecuadoran appellate court should overturn the libel conviction of editor Enrique Palacio, and the country’s legislators should reform archaic defamation laws that do not meet international standards for freedom of expression, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Palacio was sentenced Friday to three years in prison in connection with…
Top Developments • Correa assails news media, and regulators target critical outlets. • Media legislation could restrict freedom of expression. Key Statistic 3: Days that regulators ordered Teleamazonas off the air. Re-elected by a landslide in April, President Rafael Correa intensified his attacks on critical news media, calling them ignorant and deceitful. As Correa used…
We issued the following statement today after Ecuadoran authorities took critical private broadcaster Teleamazonas off the air for three days on Tuesday. In a story aired in May, Teleamazonas reported that natural gas exploitation on Puná Island could force the suspension of fishing for six months…
On May 5, 2009, Milton Nelson Chacaguasay Flores, director and editor of the weekly publication La Verdad in the city of Machala, was released on parole after serving six months in prison on libel charges. Chacaguasay told CPJ that on June 8, 2009, he was again charged with slander and sentenced to four months in…
New York, June 4, 2009–The opening of two government investigations into private television network Teleamazonas and threats of legal action by Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa against critical media outlets are an attempt by the government to stifle dissent, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
A July government takeover of almost 200 businesses, including two private television stations that drew nearly 40 percent of the country’s news audience, enabled leftist President Rafael Correa to further his political agenda and gain greater control of the media. After the move, Correa won a decisive victory in a referendum on a new constitution…
Dear President Correa: We are writing to express alarm at the imprisonment of two Ecuadoran journalists and to call for their immediate and unconditional release. Furthermore, we urge you to use the authority of your office to reform Ecuador’s archaic defamation laws, which are incompatible with international standards of freedom of expression and rulings by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
New York, July 8, 2008–Ecuadoran government agents seized two private television stations early this morning and shuttered a critical radio station late Monday night. The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by allegations that the actions were politically motivated. Members of the government’s Deposit Guarantee Agency (AGD), backed by dozens of police officers, seized the…
Nova York, 8 de julho de 2008–Agentes do governo equatoriano intervieram em duas estações privadas de televisão nesta manhã e fecharam uma estação de rádio crítica na noite de segunda-feira. O Comitê para a Proteção dos Jornalistas (CPJ) está preocupado com as acusações que sugerem que tais ações tiveram motivações políticas.