according to the new media law passed there, in which journalists can be prosecuted.
As of Monday afternoon (Eastern time), the whereabouts of on-the-run NSA leaker Edward Snowden remained unknown. But it seemed the onetime contractor might be headed to Ecuador. There's little doubt that the country's president, Rafael Correa, would relish the chance to welcome Snowden and irritate Washington. Correa has been a leading purveyor of anti-United States rhetoric in Latin America, reviving the down-with-gringos banner-waving once so popular in the region. But Correa's embrace of Snowden—if it comes to be—could produce blowback for the heavy-handed Ecuadorean leader by focusing global attention on his own, far-from-laudable policies regarding transparency, press freedoms, and refugees.
Just two weeks ago, his party passed a law in the National Assembly that, according to Human Rights Watch, "undermines free speech." HRW official José Miguel Vivanco notes, "This law is yet another effort by President Correa to go after the independent media. The provisions for censorship and criminal prosecutions of journalists are clear attempts to silence criticism."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/edward-snowden-ecuador-rafael-correaOpposition political figures said Correa's consideration of political asylum for Snowden, paired with his asylum offer a year ago to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is part of a campaign to build his image as a human rights and press freedom stalwart, even as a newly passed Media Law has been criticized as draconian and as a muzzle on the national press.
"It's total doublespeak and a double standard," said university professor and former opposition congressman Cesar Montufar in an interview Monday. "Under Correa's proposed criminal code [that would enforce the new law], if Snowden did in Ecuador what he did to the CIA, he would be subject to a seven-to-nine-year jail term."
The draft criminal code still being debated by congress imposes prison terms of three to nine years for reporters and editors who violate rules governing the publication of classified or confidential government documents, or material from personal documents without the owners' permission.
The new law also sets up a five-person "regulation council" appointed by Correa that is the final arbiter of what constitutes media law violations. The law also requires that by 2016, only 33% of the nation's radio and TV stations will be privately owned, down from the current 75%.
"Correa's objective is to transform the right of access to information into a public service, like a water utility, with the government taking on the role of safeguarding its quality," Montufar said. "It's a total and brutal twisting of freedom of expression that aims to eliminate information that makes the government uncomfortable."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-ecuador-snowden-20130625,0,262288.storyActually, the LA Times story has it wrong: it's not that Snowden could have been prosecuted in Ecuador for the kind of thing he did; it's the journalists--namely, Greenwald and the Guardian, who could have been prosecuted and imposed prison sentences for printing it, if Correa so wished.
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