media outlets were subject to judicial proceedings under laws on desacato, defamation, and libel; they were sued civilly for moral damages; laws that seriously affected the functioning of the media were also adopted1. 13. Recently, within the framework of an official visit by the Office of the Special Rapporteur to Ecuador, between August 20 and 24, 2018, the Office of the Special Rapporteur documented that between 2007 and 2017 "the government of Ecuador designed and implemented a systematic policy to discredit, stigmatize, constrain, and punish [...] journalists, the media, human rights defenders, and political opponents”. It also documented that "[t]he journalists [who] were investigating and disseminating information that the government understood to be false or contrary to their interests, social leaders, human rights defenders, and opponents who spread opinions and ideas contrary to the political movement that was called the ‘citizen revolution’[…] were subject to special persecution"2. B. Regarding the newspaper El Universo and the government of President Rafael Correa 14. The newspaper El Universo was founded on September 16, 1921 and is one of the most widely circulated written media in Ecuador. According to the statute reform of 2003, the "El Universo S.A." —a legal person whose corporate purpose is to publish the aforementioned newspaper— had a social capital authorized at that time of five million twenty thousand dollars3. Currently, it has at least eight hundred employees4. In addition, it has received numerous recognitions and prizes for the journalistic work during almost a century of operation5. 15. In the context of the government presided by Rafael Correa, El Universo was subject to sanction measures ordered by the State apparatus and to statements uttered against the aforementioned newspaper6. For example, on April 29, 2008, then President Rafael Correa asked the Governor of Guayas to initiate a criminal proceeding against the newspaper for a publication7; On January 12, 2009, an assault was recorded against a journalist of the media when trying to conduct an interview; On August 4 of the same year, several media outlets -including El Universo- would have been threatened simultaneously through an email and accused of manipulating information8; in 2010, the Office of the Special Rapporteur registered in its Annual Report the conviction of three years of imprisonment against journalist Emilio Palacio who had been sued for crimes against honor by the then head of the National Financial Corporation [Corporación Financiera Nacional] (CFN)9; In the same year, journalist Peter Tavra Franco was sentenced to six months in prison and to pay a compensation of three thousand dollars, following a published journalistic note for which a trial was initiated10; in 2014, the newspaper had to pay a fine of 90,000 dollars for the publication of a humor caricature of cartoonist In this sense, see: IACHR. Press Release No. R51/09. Office of Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression concerned about prison sentence for journalist in Ecuador. July 21, 2009; IACHR. Press Release No. R40/10. Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression concerned about prison sentence for journalist in Ecuador. March 31, 2010; IACHR. Press Release No. R104/11. Office of the Special Rapporteur expresses concern regarding confirmation of conviction against journalist, directors, and media outlet in Ecuador. September 21, 2011; IACHR. Press Release No. R134/11. Office of the Special Rapporteur expresses concern over criminal verdict against journalist in Ecuador. December 27, 2011; IACHR. Press Release No. R32/11. Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression expresses concern regarding the existence and application of criminal defamation laws against persons who have criticized public officials in Ecuador. April 15, 2011. 1 IACHR. Press Release No. R188/18. Office of the Special Rapporteur concludes its visit to Ecuador and presents its preliminary observations and recommendations on freedom of expression in the country. August 24, 2018. 2 Modification of the Bylaws of El Universo Anonymous Company. Annex No. 93 of the Initial Petition presented to the IACHR on October 24, 2011. 3 4 See: El Universo, “Quienes somos”, no date. Available at: https://www.eluniverso.com/quienessomos/organizacion.htm#3 5 Annex 5. Acknowledgments El Universo. Annex No. 87 of the Initial Petition presented to the IACHR on October 24, 2011. 6Annex 2. Compilation of statements by the National Government against the newspaper El Universo. Annex Nº 85 of the Initial Petition presented to the IACHR on October 24, 2011. See also, Initial Petition presented to the IACHR on October 24, 2011, pages 39 to 44. IACHR. Annual Report 2008. Annual Report of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. Chapter II (Evaluation of the state of freedom of expression in the hemisphere). OEA/Ser.L/V/II.134 Doc. 5 rev. 1. February 25, 2009. Para. 106. 7 IACHR. Annual Report 2009. Annual Report of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. Chapter II (Evaluation of the state of freedom of expression in the hemisphere). OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 51. December 30, 2009. Paras. 197 y 202. 8 IACHR. Annual Report 2010. Annual Report of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. Chapter II (Evaluation of the state of freedom of expression in the hemisphere). OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 5. March 7, 2011. Para. 213. 9 IACHR. Annual Report 2010. Annual Report of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. Chapter II (Evaluation of the state of freedom of expression in the hemisphere). OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 5. March 7, 2011. Para. 212. 10 3