Ecuador

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed great concern over the recent decline in press freedom in Ecuador. The organisation strongly condemned the murder of Ricardo Mendoza, the driver of Telesistema TV station director Carlos Muñoz Insua, during an attempt to kill the journalist on 9 February 2004. The organisation also deplored the harassment of radio stations […]

(IPYS/IFEX) – On 9 February 2004, Carlos Muñoz, president of the Telesistema television station, was injured in an attack that resulted in the death of his driver, Ricardo Mendoza. The incident occurred at 10:15 p.m. (local time), as Muñoz was heading home, on the road to Samborondón, Guayas province, Guyaquil, when his vehicle was intercepted […]

(AMARC/IFEX) – On 3 and 4 February 2004, President Lucio Gutiérrez and other officials threatened to close down La Luna (99.3 FM) radio station. In addition, the station’s director reported that he received threatening phone calls directed at his family. In recent days, indigenous people and other citizens have held demonstrations to express their support […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 28 January 2004 CPJ letter to Supreme Court Chair Hugo Quintana Coello: January 28, 2004 His Excellency Hugo Quintana Coello President of the Supreme Court of Justice Republic of Ecuador Av. Naciones Unidas y Amazonas Quito, Ecuador Via facsimile: +593-22-438-601 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a […]

(PFC/IFEX) – PFC has appealed to Judge Felipe Serrano Cordero, chair of Cuenca’s Fifth Civil Court, to dismiss a defamation case that was brought against Diego Orellana and Jaime Cedillo, assistant editor and director/editor of the magazine “El Observador”, respectively. In June 2003, the city’s mayor, Fernando Cordero Cueva, launched the legal action against Orellana […]

(PFC/IFEX) – On 14 November 2003, President Lucio Gutiérrez demanded that “El Comercio” newspaper reveal its sources for a story about an alleged donation to the president’s electoral campaign by an individual implicated in drug trafficking. Gutiérrez warned he would resort to “legal measures to obtain the names from ‘El Comercio’” if the paper failed […]

(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 3 October 2003 IAPA press release: Ecuadorian President ratifies Declaration of Chapultepec 29 countries of the Western Hemisphere have endorsed this treaty Miami (October 3, 2003) – The President of Ecuador, Lucio Gutiérrez, yesterday ratified the Declaration of Chapultepec during the General Assembly of the International Broadcasting Association (IAB) […]

(PFC/IFEX) – A number of statements and actions by government officials, including the president, affected the relationship between the government and the press in September 2003. Press unions, academic centres and non-governmental organisations held a number of demonstrations protesting the reluctance of President Lucio Gutiérrez’s government to ratify the 1994 Declaration of Chapultepec. http://portal-pfc.org/libexp/docs/2003/253.html Discussions […]

(IPYS/IFEX) – On 22 September 2003, columnist Rodrigo Fierro Benítez, of the Quito-based daily “El Comercio”, filed an appeal of the sentence handed down to him by the first instance court for allegedly insulting former president León Febres Cordero. The sentence of six months in prison and payment of US$1,000 to the plaintiff’s lawyer has […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has protested the six-month prison sentence against columnist Rodrigo Fierro of the Quito-based daily “El Comercio” on 19 September 2003. Fierro allegedly libelled a former president by accusing him of serving the oligarchy. “This sentence sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom in Ecuador by encouraging journalists to censor themselves,” the organisation […]

(IPYS/IFEX) – On 6 May 2003, the Morona Santiago provincial branch of the Ecuadorian Radio Broadcasting Association (Asociación Ecuatoriana de Radiodifusión, AER) protested the recent threats against several journalists. Approximately 12 radio stations in the province are AER members. Wilson Cabrera, the director and owner of Radio Canela FM, was threatened for reporting on alleged […]

(PFC/IFEX) – Barely two months after Colonel Lucio Gutiérrez assumed the presidency, the press has faced harassment for publishing reports about corruption and the deterioration of the government’s image. On 10 March 2003, retired colonel Patricio Acosta called Katherine Mendoza, political affairs editor of “Expreso” newspaper, to his office to complain about the publication of […]

(IPYS/IFEX) – On 10 March 2003, journalist Katherine Mendoza, political affairs editor of the daily “Expreso”, was mistreated while on assignment at the seat of government. On 10 March, “Expreso” published information from the organisation Transparency International that warned about a possible increase in the perception of corruption in Ecuador, due to the presence of […]

(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalist Walter Ricardo Gellibert Larreta has been receiving an increasing number of telephone threats from anonymous callers since 1 January 2003. Gellibert is the owner of the weekly “Informativo Peninsular” and the Santa Elena radio network, based in the Santa Elena peninsula, approximately 650 kilometres from Quito. The threats started after Gellibert’s radio […]

(IPYS/IFEX) – The Supreme Court’s First Criminal Chamber has acquitted Jorge Vivanco Mendieta, a journalist and current deputy director of the Guayaquil daily “Express”, in one of the legal proceedings that Fernando Rosero, member of parliament for the Ecuadorian Roldosist Party (Partido Roldosista Ecuatoriano, PRE), had brought against him. Rosero had appealed the lower courts’ […]

(IPYS/IFEX) – Jorge Vivanco Mendieta, deputy director of the Guayaquil daily “Expreso”, has received a favourable ruling in the legal actions launched against him by Fernando Rosero, member of parliament for the Ecuadorian Roldosist Party (Partido Roldosista Ecuatoriano, PRE). Guayas Ninth Civil Court Judge Aquiles Dávila issued his verdict in favour of Vivanco. Rosero appealed […]