Ecuadorian journalist granted asylum... in the U.S - Polidicks

[quote=BBC News]Emilio Palacio fled to the US a year ago, after being sentenced to jail in a libel case brought by President Rafael Correa. Mr Palacio said he was a victim of political persecution. Ecuador has been at the centre of another asylum case since WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sought refuge in its London embassy in June. Mr Assange, who is wanted in Sweden for rape allegations, was granted asylum in Ecuador, but remains at the embassy as the British government refuses to give him safe passage. Critics of left-wing President Correa pointed out that while his government claimed that Mr Assange was a victim of political persecution it attacked press freedom in his own country. Emilio Palacio, a well-known columnist for El Universo newspaper, said journalists in Ecuador worked under the permanent threat of going to jail. "I am very grateful to the American government not only for what it has done for me and my family, but also for what this decision means for Ecuadorean journalists," he told the AFP news agency. Mr Palacio fled to Miami last year after a court sentenced him and the three newspaper owners - Carlos, Cesar and Nicolas Perez - to three years in jail each. They were also ordered to pay $40m in fines and damages. Their lawyers said the punishment was disproportionate and appealed. The sentence was confirmed by a court in February, but President Correa announced shortly after that he had decided to pardon the accused. Mr Correa brought the lawsuit after an article in El Universo questioned an army raid to rescue him from a violent protest by striking police officers in September 2010. In an article published in El Universo in February, Mr Palacio referred to Mr Correa as "the dictator" and said the president had ordered soldiers to fire on the hospital.[/quote] [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19431682"]Source is BBC News[/URL] Are Ecuador hypocrites? Is the US playing the PR game? Or are everyone just bastards playing at 'realpolitk'? My money's on the latter.

[QUOTE=Camundongo;37515974][URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19431682"]Source is BBC News[/URL] Are Ecuador hypocrites? Is the US playing the PR game? Or are everyone just bastards playing at 'realpolitk'? My money's on the latter.[/QUOTE] The US is one of the top places people go when seeking asylum. We are usually better than where they are fleeing and, even following reductions in the number of people we admit since the 90's, we remain one of the largest granters of asylum on the planet, admitting roughly 80k people per year as a result of the program.

[QUOTE=GunFox;37516223]The US is one of the top places people go when seeking asylum. We are usually better than where they are fleeing and, even following reductions in the number of people we admit since the 90's, we remain one of the largest granters of asylum on the planet, admitting roughly 80k people per year as a result of the program.[/QUOTE] Yes this We are/were called the 'leader of the free world' for a reason.

[QUOTE=GunFox;37516223]The US is one of the top places people go when seeking asylum. We are usually better than where they are fleeing and, even following reductions in the number of people we admit since the 90's, we remain one of the largest granters of asylum on the planet, admitting roughly 80k people per year as a result of the program.[/QUOTE] It's just interesting the U.S offering asylum to someone from Ecuador at the same time Ecuador are offering asylum to someone who claims the US is attempted to extradite them. I think it provides a nice splash of grey for everything.

IIiiiIIrronnyyy

[QUOTE=scout1;37516274]Yes this We are/were called the 'leader of the free world' for a reason.[/QUOTE] And that reason is that you weren't bombed to shit in world war 2.

[QUOTE=scout1;37516274]Yes this We are/were called the 'leader of the free world' for a reason.[/QUOTE] The one who is just about to lead the whole world into utter shit, right?

The specifics in each case are probably somewhat important. Makes no sense to compare these incidents as they are completely different countries politically, there's obviously stuff every country doesn't want their people to know. I don't think anyone thought that Ecuador was some human-rights super-country, it's just they have no interests in the US Military or corporate policies.

[QUOTE=Camundongo;37516277]It's just interesting the U.S offering asylum to someone from Ecuador at the same time Ecuador are offering asylum to someone who claims the US is attempted to extradite them. I think it provides a nice splash of grey for everything.[/QUOTE] Tbh, it's probably just timing and coincidence. I doubt it's because of Ecuador granting asylum, someone probably just notice hey this guy was granted asylum and he's from Ecuador let's make an article about it to stir things up.

They're hardly comparable cases. A journalist who committed libel (libel/slander is a crime in most countries), sought asylum from the US so he wouldn't be prosecuted. The person who brought the case of libel (the president) pardoned the journalist in question. If you look at the article that the journalist made you would find that it can be considered libel/slander. Julian Assange, well, is something far different.

[QUOTE=Gishank;37519907]They're hardly comparable cases. A journalist who committed libel (libel/slander is a crime in most countries), sought asylum from the US so he wouldn't be prosecuted. The person who brought the case of libel (the president) pardoned the journalist in question. If you look at the article that the journalist made you would find that it can be considered libel/slander. Julian Assange, well, is something far different.[/QUOTE] except ecuador has a crap record on press freedom. as of 2011 freedom house has labelled ecuadorian press "partly free', noting president correa's public hatred for the press and constitutional attempts to restrict press freedom. journalists have repeatedly been hit with massive fines/jail sentences for "defamation", often justified by the courts because the plaintiff is a government official, and anti-government press are repeatedly harrassed by state forces. [url]http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2011/ecuador[/url] you can't write off ecuadorian press restrictions as merely "punishment for libel", the government clearly uses the courts (and other tools) to harrass and intimidate journalists. that's the greatest irony of assange's delusional stand for freedom. e: not to mention the president didn't offer a pardon until AFTER one of the men was granted asylum. prison sentences and a $40 million dollar fine are not legitimate sentences for questioning whether a president committed human rights abuses.

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;37519080]The one who is just about to lead the whole world into utter shit, right?[/QUOTE] The one who? One man? Damn, he must be one powerful dude, leading the world into utter shit while laughing maniacally.

[QUOTE=Gekkosan;37520333]The one who? One man? Damn, he must be one powerful dude, leading the world into utter shit while laughing maniacally.[/QUOTE] "the leader of the world" :downs:

[QUOTE=Gekkosan;37520333]The one who? One man? Damn, he must be one powerful dude, leading the world into utter shit while laughing maniacally.[/QUOTE] Couldn't scroll up back up to read eh? The ONE country or is this sarcasm that can't be expressed with words?

Awesomecaek is being bellicose because they literally just pinned all the worlds problems on a single entity, who though has contributed is definitely not the sole problem.