Ecuador
Journalist charged with insulting officialPosted Apr 9 2010
On March 26, a district court judge sentenced a newspaper opinion writer from El Universo to three years in prison for insulting a government official.
The journalist, Emilio Palacio, also paid $10,000 in legal costs for an Aug. 27 article that mocked National Financial Corp. Director Camilo Saman. The article made fun of Saman because he sent his bodyguards to complain about a published story. The Associated Press reports that his guards were not included in the group that protested the article.
Palacio claims the sentence is “a demonstration that here there is only political power, there is a total concentration of power,” the AP cites. He plans on appealing the sentence.
The agency Saman works for is a part of President Rafael Correa’s government. IAPA is concerned that the Ecuadorian government is trying to repress critical media within the country, much like the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.