Catherine Ashton, the European Union (left). On right, Ecuador's president Rafael Correa tears a newspaper in half on national TV.
 

BRUSSELS - According to the head diplomat for the European Union, Catherine Ashton, the EU has been closely following the "El Universo" case in Ecuador, and is waiting for the country's Supreme Court decision before taking any action.

“The facts behind this case are cause for concern because it is in regards to freedom of expression,” Ashton told members gathered before the full European Parliament.

Ashton asked the EU members to wait for the final decision of Ecuador's Court of Justice, (Supreme Court), and stated that she expected nothing less than “the highest judicial standards” during the process. 

Ashton noted that if the Supreme Court rejects the verdicts of two lower courts that ruled against the newspaper, three of its managers, and a former editorial page editor, “it will have reached a solution through the judicial process.” But otherwise, according to Ashton, there are existing obligations in the bilateral EU-Ecuador treaty that would be in violation, “and we would have to see what action we take, ” she said.