(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the violence against the press that has occurred amid the turmoil of the past few days, which ultimately led to President Lucio Gutiérrez’s overthrow on 20 April 2005. The organisation also deplored the death of Chilean freelance photographer Julio Augusto García during a 19 April demonstration in Quito. “There is […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the violence against the press that has occurred amid the turmoil of the past few days, which ultimately led to President Lucio Gutiérrez’s overthrow on 20 April 2005. The organisation also deplored the death of Chilean freelance photographer Julio Augusto García during a 19 April demonstration in Quito.
“There is no guarantee that President Gutiérrez’s removal and replacement by Vice-President Alfredo Palacio will end this state of siege and anarchy that has exposed both pro-government and opposition media to reprisals,” RSF said. The organisation urged the new Ecuadorean government to immediately order a thorough investigation into García’s death, adding, “We also call on the government to respect press diversity and, if necessary, to provide adequate police protection to the media outlets that are most in danger.”
According to a preliminary investigation and information obtained by RSF, García died of a heart attack caused by the tear gas used by police to disperse demonstrators who were calling for Gutiérrez’s resignation outside Parliament. He died at Quito’s Eugenio Espejo hospital, where he was taken after collapsing.
In another incident, on 20 April, at around 1:00 a.m. (local time), unidentified gunmen shot at the premises of Radio La Luna four times. The previous afternoon, the station, which has been very critical of the deposed president, received telephone threats saying, “Tonight La Luna will be blown to pieces.” Two days earlier, on 17 April, Radio La Luna broadcasts were interrupted for 45 minutes when transmission cables were severed. Following their repair, they were sabotaged again the next day, causing a six-hour interruption.
Also on 20 April, opponents of the deposed president roughed up a crew from Ecuavisa television station as they were filming a bus carrying the president’s supporters, while Daniela Kraemer, the correspondent for the Spanish daily “El País”, was manhandled by demonstrators opposed to the new president.
