With a 70 percent approval rating, Correa is among Latin America's most popular leaders thanks in part to an array of state-funded programs that have brought stability to a traditionally unruly nation.
His support was on display outside the courthouse Wednesday as his backers scuffled with defenders of El Universo, struck at least three journalists and burned issues of El Universo and another newspaper, El Comercio.
The El Universo team are not the only journalists Correa has attacked in the courts.
Last week, a judge ordered two journalists to pay $1 million each to the president for offending Correa's honor and professional prestige by claiming he was aware that his older brother had some $600 million in government contracts, primarily for road construction.
Voters also gave Correa a win last year by approving ballot questions to bar news media owners from holdings in other business sectors and create a government oversight panel that would regulate news media content for "excesses."
And he further angered press freedom advocates by winning congressional approval of a law that bars the news media from broadcasting or publishing any material that could influence opinions about candidates or proposals during election campaigns.
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Associated Press writers Gisela Salamon in Miami, Juan Zamorano in Panama City, and Frank Bajak in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report.
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