Ecuador - Controversial jail sentence amid tension between authorities and journalists

Reporters without borders

Reporters Without Borders condemns the three-year jail sentence that a court in Guayaquil imposed on Emilio Palacio, a columnist for the daily El Universo, on 26 March on a charge of libel. He was also ordered him to pay 10,000 dollars in court costs. Palacio is still free pending the outcome of an appeal. The sentence is disproportionate, contrary to the western hemisphere tendency to decriminalize press offences, and inopportune because the Ecuadorean parliament is currently debating (...)

© Reporters sans frontières - mardi 30 mars 2010