Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa announced on Monday that he had granted pardons in two high-profile libel cases involving the media. In one, El Universo newspaper had been ordered to pay $40 million in damages and its three directors and a former columnist had been sentenced to three years in prison, respectively. In the second, investigative journalists Christian Zurita and Juan Carlos Calderón had been ordered to pay $1 million each because of allegations in their book El Gran Hermano (Big Brother).
“I’ve decided to … pardon the accused and [suspend] the sentences that they rightly received,” Correa said during a televised speech, using his presidential privilege to grant the pardons, Reuters reported. According to local media, the President said he was satisfied because the goals had been achieved and the cases had proved that the law was above “the corrupt press”. He described the legal processes as a lesson for his country and he added: “There is forgiveness, but it is not forgotten.”
Correa’s lawyers on Monday went to the National Court of Justice to submit all the documents that would end the trial against El Universo. Nonetheless, the newspaper’s directors were cautious. “Following the decision that President Rafael Correa announced, using powers under Ecuadorian law, on sanctions imposed on us by the National Court of Justice, the newspaper El Universo will make a statement once the sentences have been suspended,” they said in the online edition.
Last week, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) requested precautionary measures with respect to the directors of El Universo – brothers Carlos, César and Nicolás Perez – and former columnist Emilio Palacio. The IACHR ordered the Ecuadorian government to suspend the sentences against the directors of El Universo until a hearing to be held in Washington DC on March 28. In a statement, the IACHR said it issued the injunction in order to guarantee the right to free speech.
President Correa however branded the request “total nonsense” on Twitter. Alambert Vera, a lawyer for President Correa, told the Efe news agency: “It’s a full-scale attack on democracy, judicial independence and domestic jurisdiction.” Ricardo Patiño, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Integration, said: “This is a clear violation of the institutions of our country (…) There is a fully functional judicial system that must be respected; you cannot ask the government to go to court and ask it to not apply a sentence.”
Expression of solidarity with El Universo had come from across the world. In Latin America, newspapers in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela published an article entitled “No to the lies” that led to the libel sentence. A host of international organisations, including IPI, had expressed concern about the case.
According to local reports, Emilio Palacio, a former El Universo columnist, and Juan Carlos Calderón, one of the authors of the “Big Brother” book, said on Monday that international pressure had influenced Correa’s decision – something the government has denied.
IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills, who had previously warned that the sentence was a “severe blow to freedom of expression and freedom of the press in Ecuador”, welcomed the announcement: “We are pleased to hear about the suspension of the sentences, but the criminal suits should never have been brought in the first place. Furthermore, the very notion of a pardon suggests guilt. The press freedom climate in Ecuador has been gravely damaged by these latest efforts to intimidate the independent media.”
IPI believes that criminal defamation laws only serve to obstruct scrutiny of the actions of those in power, while they deprive the people of the information they need to make decisions.
Mills said: “IPI is concerned at new legislation and the use of lawsuits to silence critical media in Ecuador. We call on the authorities to allow the media to function freely – as it should in any healthy democracy.”
IPI has repeatedly raised concerns about press freedom in Ecuador, in particular in the El Universo and El Gran Hermano cases. In the latter, journalists Christian Zurita and Juan Carlos Calderón were ordered to pay President Correa compensation for causing “moral harm” with a book alleging links between the President’s older brother, Fabricio Correa, and firms that won state contracts worth millions.
Last month Ecuador tried to roll back the authority of the Organisation of American States (OAS)’ Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression – who reports to the IACHR. Ecuador made a series of proposals that sought to limit funding and the scope of work it carries out, and to discredit the Office of the Special Rapporteur. Various media organisations have also criticised the stifling of press freedom in Ecuador, especially the harassment of journalists and the use of libel laws to silence any opposition.
