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CIDH Requested Information on El Universo Case
Posted On 11 Nov 2011
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) decided to revise the sentence against the directors of the El Universo Newspaper , Carlos, Cesar and Nicolas Perez and former columnist of the newspaper, Emilio Palacio, in the trial raised by President Rafael Correa.
The Commission requested Ecuador last Tuesday to answer on four points of the decision ratified by the Court of Justice of Guayas for alleged libel in an article written by Palacio on the events of September 30, 2010.
La Commissión solicitó el martes pasado al Estado ecuatoriano que respondiera sobre cuatro puntos de la sentencia ratificada por la Corte de Justicia del Guayas por supuestas injurias calumniosas en un artículo escrito por Palacio sobre los hechos del 30 de septiembre del 2010.
The Commission sought clarification on the actions taken by the judges in the conviction. It inquired about the criteria used to determine the monetary sentence of $ 40 million for the President.
It was also asked if there have been similar cases in the past five years, with fines for contempt sanctions of up to USD 30 million; what are the legal arguments to justify criminal liability for “authoring helpers”; the criterion by which the indictment seeks to convict the newspaper managers because of the opinion piece written by Palacio.
The communication of the Commission is part of the process to be addressed after the defense of the directors of El Universo and Palacio called for the implementation of precautionary measures in favor on 24 October.
