by Correa for $10m in "moral damages" for suggesting the president knew his brother was making millions of dollars from state contracts. After a public outcry, the president withdrew one suit and issued a pardon in the other, but he defended his right to take such action: "Do we have an unwritten law that we can't sue a journalist? Since when? So nobody should sue Murdoch and his partners in crime in Britain?" The editorial director of Vanguardia, Juan Carlos Caldern, had earlier told the Guardian he was being targeted for criticising the administration, and accused Correa of double standards. "The government said it has granted asylum to Assange because he is politically persecuted for defending freedom of expression. But the same thing happens to us," he said. "This is not a country with the free press described by Correa." He is not alone. The domestic press watchdog Fundamedios describes the situation in Ecuador as a low-intensity war on journalists that appears to be escalating. Last year, it recorded 151 cases of physical aggression against reporters, up from 101 in 2009. It says this increase is largely the result of the constant abuse directed at journalists by Correa during his weekly TV broadcast, which is carried by almost every channel. It also notes that 17 radio stations have been shut down this year for transgressing regulations and that the government has recently issued new rules that will oblige internet service providers to provide the IP addresses of their users to