Freedom of Expression
Brazil
Assassinations
1. On August 16, 2001, Mario Coelho de Almeida Filho, a journalist and manager of the newspaper A Verdade, was killed unidentified persons in the vicinity of his home. According to the information received, Coelho was murdered one day before he was due to testify in a criminal libel case brought by José Camilo Zito, the mayor of Duque de Caxias, and his wife, Narriman Zito. The libel suit arose from a story the journalist had published in A Verdade about the alleged embezzlement of municipal funds. Some months earlier, he had received a series of threatening telephone calls.[1]
Judicial Actions
2. In May 2001, Mario Quevedo Netom, a journalist with the daily Folha do Sul in Vilhenam, Rondonia state, was sentenced to four months’ community service in a libel suit brought by judge Adolfo Theidoro Naujork Neto. The information received indicates that the judge was offended by the journalist’s reporting on local prison conditions.[2]
3. In October 2001, a ruling ordering the daily O Debate of Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo to pay a sum of money was upheld. The conviction arose from a suit for “moral damages” filed by Judge Antonio José Magdalena, who felt affronted by articles dealing with his professional performance. According to the information received, the fine imposed exceeded the newspaper’s net worth, thus forcing it to close down. According to Sergio Fleury Moraes, the director of O Debate, the paper had been suffering judicial persecution for ten years. One lawsuit filed by the same judge in 1996 saw Moraes placed in prison for seven months.[3]
Prior Censorship
4. In July 2001, the Rio Grande do Sul state government discredited journalist Luis Milman and urged the news magazine IstoÉ to refrain from publishing an article about alleged gaming irregularities committed by the Rio Grande do Sul government. According to the information received, the state government is being monitored by the Parliamentary Investigating Commission for Public Security on account of its possible ties with illicit gambling.[4]
5. On July 21, 2001, magistrate Ana Paula Braga Alencastro ordered the seizure of the July 22 edition of the daily Tribuna Popular. This decision arose from a lawsuit filed against the newspaper by Dali Pagel, the mayor of São Lourenço do Sul, for “the damage it inflicted on his moral integrity.” According to reports, the edition in question referred to the existence of criminal charges against Pagel for alleged irregularities in his administration. In seizing the edition, the magistrate argued that a newspaper cannot manipulate public opinion or denigrate a public figure.[5]
6. On November 13, 2001, a provisional injunction was issued preventing the dailies Zero Hora and Diario Gaucho, both based in the Rio Grande do Sul state, from publishing a story about Jairo Carneiro, the former treasurer of the Workers’ Party (PT), that Diario Gaucho had written in May. The report named public figures and tied them in with acts of corruption. This act of censorship was requested by Diolegenes de Oliveira, the president of the Citizens’ Insurance Club, and Daniel Vercosa, the club’s director, who were named in the article. The ban also applies to the Parliamentary Investigating Commission for Public Security, an agency of the Legislative Assembly, which is in possession of a recording of the interview. The representatives of the media companies affected filed an “assault on instrument” remedy against the ban, arguing that it constituted prior censorship by forbidding the publication of information of public interest.[6]
Other
7. In August 2001, the International Federation of Journalists, which includes Brazil’s National Federation of Journalists (FENAJ), expressed its concern about the use of false press cards by intelligence agents intending to infiltrate civilian groups and asked the authorities to explain the situation. The daily Folha de São Paolo reported that press cards were being used by at least six intelligence operatives purporting to belong to nonexistent news services.[7]
[1] This information was provided by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters without Borders (RSF), and the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), which are organizations that defend free expression.
[2] This information was provided by Brazil’s National Federation of Journalists (FENAJ).
[3] This information was provided by Reporters without Borders (France), the PERIODISTAS association, and the Inter American Press Association, which are organizations that defend free expression.
[4] This information was provided by the PERIODISTAS association.
[5] This information was provided by Reporters without Borders (RSF), an organization that defends free expression.
[6] This information was provided by the PERIODISTAS association, an organization that defends free expression.
[7] This information was provided by local organizations, the International Federation of Journalists, and Brazil’s National Federation of Journalists (FENAJ).