Ecuador

On 8 March 2013, Judge Bayardo García sentenced journalist Yaco Martínez to one month in prison and the payment of $30,000, after finding him guilty of the crime of non-slanderous defamation.

The organisation Fundamedios demands that Twitter provide a swift and clear explanation of the measures adopted to suspend its account, @Fundamedios.

After winning the 17 February 2013 presidential election in Ecuador with 56.9% of the vote, President Rafael Correa is heading into his third term as leader of the country, apparently committed to maintaining his antagonistic relationship with the private media.

On 28 January 2013, the website “BananaLeaks.co” was under attack by unidentified hackers. The page was hacked after the publication of an article that revealed the alleged existence of two bank accounts owned by President Rafael Correa in Switzerland.

The practice of pre-empting broadcasts for official announcements, known as cadenas, was enshrined in Ecuador’s radio and television law in 1974, under a military government. Critics call the use of cadenas abusive because the government now has so many other ways to get its point across.

Where does accurate reporting on a presidential candidate end and “indirect” promotion of the candidate begin? That’s the question facing Ecuadorean media outlets as they try to navigate an ambiguous legal landscape ahead of the country’s Feb. 17th presidential vote.

Critics say that in the absence of a strong political opposition, Correa, who is heavily favored to win another four-year term in the February 17 election, has turned the Ecuadoran press into his whipping boy.

President Rafael Correa announced that during his next period in office the State will subsidize small “non-profit” media outlets, but the measure will not extend to the large media companies, which he says “are drowning in cash”.

Journalist Ángel Arregui, of television station Sacha TV in La Joya de los Sachas, was kidnapped and beaten by unidentified persons who, after leaving him on the highway, warned him that the attack had been punishment for “messing with the boss.”

On the evening of 3 December, blogger Paúl Moreno – who had been arrested for hacking into President Correa’s personal information – was released as a result of a request made by head of state during his N 299 “Enlace Ciudadano” program.

Journalist Andrés Carrión was notified that his program “Regresando con Andrés Carrión”, broadcasted by Radio Armónica of Quito, would be cancelled. He had recently interviewed Santiago Villa, the director of a censored documentary.

A protective rights action is a judicial guarantee intended to redress the violation of the fundamental rights of people. However, when the State files a protective action there is a contradiction in terms.

On 21 November 2012, the newspaper El Telégrafo reported on a lawsuit filed against Orlando Pérez, the paper’s director, by Salvador Quishpe, prefect of Zamora Chinchipe province, for having allegedly caused him “spiritual damage” in a 21 March article published under the title “Leader Supports Mining.”

The use of broadcasted government “cadenas” to spread the official messages of the State is also an instrument of attack against the media that is not pro-government and their allies, who are described as “opponents” for thinking differently, according to Fundamedios.

A court decision has ruled that La Hora infringed on the government’s constitutional right to protection from “the dissemination of inexact or unproven information”, according to IPI, for the paper’s 10 October report on the administration spending “over US $71 million on official advertising since January”.

A tribunal at the Guayas Court of Justice confirmed the withdrawal of Radio Morena FM’s broadcasting license, in Guayaquil, after declaring unfounded the appeal presented by the Almorán company, which operates the radio station.