ECUADOR - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has ordered the Government of Ecuador to suspend the sentences against the four journalists of El Universo (pending full review), who were sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay compensation of $40 million to Correa for an editorial that he found offensive.  

The Executive Secretary of the IACHR, Santiago Canton, announced that the IACHR had requested injunctive relief in favor of the directors of El Universo, César, Carlos and Nicolas Perez, as well as the newspaper's former chief of opinion Emilio Palacio, who is seeking asylum from Correa's government in Miami.

Specifically, it ordered the Correa government to "immediately" stop any action upon of the judgment of the National Court of Justice (CNJ) that took place on February 15, 2012, which ratified the judgment of Judge Juan Paredes in July of 2011. 

Canton explained that given the facts presented by the four journalists before the Commission, it believed that the verdict could result in "irreparable harm" to the right of freedom of expression. 

According to Canton, the order will only be valid until March 28th, when the parties will appear again before the Commission. After the hearing, which will last one hour, the commission will decide if its decision will be maintained, modified or vacated. 

Canton also clarified that the decision of the Commission to impose precautionary measures in favor of the four journalists "does not constitute a prejudgment on the merits of the matter" that was settled in the Ecuadorian courts. 

After hearing the news, the deputy director of El Universo, Cesar Perez, said that he was confident that the Ecuadorian government will abide by the order of the Human Rights Commission. "In other cases it has ignored the precautionary measures, so that it is unprecedented," Perez told the NTN24 chain. 

For his part, Emilio Palacio announced via his Twitter account that he considered the decision of the Commission a "triumph," and added, "The author of this triumph is the vast national and international solidarity" that has been shown in support of the four journalists.