The Washington Post writes about Ecuador President Rafael Correa’s lawsuit against El Universo and other measures it says have increased his control of the country’s media:
To no one’s surprise, the provisional judge hearing the case quickly ruled in the president’s favor, sentencing Mr. Palacio and the three El Universo directors to three years in prison and awarding $40 million in damages to Mr. Correa — an amount that exceeds the total value of the newspaper. The defendants are appealing to higher courts, but as the media rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights noted, the decision “constitutes a grave warning to any citizen or media outlet that has opinions or information about public officials that could be considered offensive, thus obstructing processes that are natural and necessary in any democracy.”
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