Ecuador
Newsmagazine equipment confiscatedPosted Jan 26 2011
For the past month, the computers and hard drives of journalists from the newsmagazine Vanguardia have been in the hands of Ecuadorian authorities after a raid in December. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the seizure was in retaliation to the editorial positions of the magazine. The committee also seeks to have authorities return the property that was confiscated.
Authorities said that the action was part of an eviction that involved state-owned offices. According to these authorities, the magazine owed $14,560 in rent. However, in an article for the South American newspaper HOY, the editor of the magazine, Juan Carlos Calderón said, “The magazine does not owe one cent. The certificates are at the court in Inquilinato.” Calderón and members of the local press group Fundamedios believe that the raid had ulterior motives than just rent collection, according to a blog posted by The Economist.
Carlos Lauría, the senior program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists said earlier this month, “We urge authorities to return the magazine's property and allow Vanguardia to work without obstruction.”