Blog
News organization under assault in Ecuador
- By: ASNE staff
- On: 01/19/2012 08:37:00
- In: Freedom of the press
El Universo, a 90-year-old newspaper in Ecuador, is facing an attack by President Rafael Correa that could shutter the news organization and imprison three of its directors.
El Universo, a 90-year-old newspaper in Ecuador, is facing an attack by President Rafael Correa that could shutter the news organization and imprison three of its directors. The case began in February, 2011, when a columnist for the paper wrote an op-ed critical of the president. Correa filed a criminal lawsuit against the columnist, the newspaper, and three of the paper's directors. According to an editorial in the Washington Post, the judge who heard the case held one hearing, and 33 hours later issued a 156-page ruling sentencing the four journalists to three years in prison and awarding Correa $40 million in compensation. “A subsequent independent investigation determined that (the judge didn't write the opinion), and that the author was probably Mr. Correa's attorney,” wrote the Washington Post in an editorial published last week.