Brazil

BRAZIL Report to the Midyear Meeting Caracas, Venezuela March 28 - 30, 2008 Two events were particularly notable in recent months, and one of them is positive. This was the ruling by Judge Carlos Ayres Britto of the Supreme Court granting an injunction revoking part of the Press Law that has been in effect since the days of the military regime. The decision is based on the argument that it violates several constitutional precepts. In practice, this injunction paralyzes judicial proceedings and decisions based on the articles of the Press Law that the judge suspended, such as the jailing of journalists convicted of defamation-related offenses. These articles are included in the Penal Code. In his decision, Judge Ayres Britto writes that “the press and democracy in the current Brazilian constitutional system are Siamese twins.” He adds, “In our country freedom of expression is the greatest expression of freedom, since anything can be said by anyone.” In another section, he asserts that “The current Press Law does not seem to serve the standard of democracy and press that came out of the notepads of the Constituent Assembly of 1987/88.” He adds, “On the contrary, we are dealing with a model which the Supreme Court itself has seen as drafted by a constitutional order (in 1967/1969) that has practically nothing to do with the current one.” Federal legislator Miro Teixeira, who brought the action of the PDT that resulted in the injunction, said the Press Law was “imposed on society in 1967 by the military dictatorship” and has provisions that are totally incompatible with the democratic rule of law. “The statute that was challenged is the product of an authoritarian state that violently restricted civil liberties in general and press freedom in particular,” Miro said. Pending a ruling on the merits by the full Supreme Court, another section that is invalid, for now, is the one that authorizes censorship of public entertainment. The articles that provide for the confiscation of newspapers and those that prohibit foreigners from owning communications companies in Brazil were also suspended. Unfortunately, the other notable event illustrates one of the worst aspects of restriction of freedom of expression. It involves a group of lawsuits orchestrated by group of ministers and parishioners of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God against Folha de S. Paulo because of a report , “Universal Completes 30 Years as a Business Empire,” published December 15 of last year. As journalist Júlio César Mesquita, director of the Freedom of Expression Committee of the National Journalists Association (ANJ) says, these lawsuits, which allege that parishioners of Universal suffered moral damages, also clearly intend to inhibit the practice of journalism. “They are obviously the result of planning, with identical arguments, strategies and objectives. Bringing many lawsuits from various parts of the country is a tactic that demonstrates the true intention of causing problems for newspapers and journalists who are obliged to appear in court and present their defense in dozens of cities, thus multiplying the costs of their defense. By causing these difficulties, the people who file these lawsuits, and their mentors, try to force journalists and newspapers to suppress news about Universal. It is a coarse and wily initiative that challenges the Judicial Branch, trying to use it for undeclared purposes. Fortunately, various judges have ruled against these suits, criticizing their true and contemptable purposes,” Júlio wrote in a news story distributed by ANJ. It is worth pointing out that Judge Alessandro Leite Pereira, of Bataguaçu, Mato Grosso do Sul, in his ruling on one of the countless suits against Folha, criticized the plaintiff for “litigating in bad faith.” The decision showed that all the requests for damages, written in practically the same language, come from the same place and have the same objective. He concluded it was an illegitimate attempt to use the judiciary against press freedom, to threaten the free practice of journalism and deprive citizens of the right to be informed. The following are other recent attempts to restrict freedom of expression: November 22, 2007--Radio reporter João Carlos Alckmin of Radio Piratininga in São José dos Campos (SP) was shot twice. The attack apparently was related to his reporting five years ago concerning slot machines in the city. December 7, 2007--Judge Hilbert Maximiliano Akihito Obara of the 18th federal circuit court of Porto Alegre prohibited the Web site Vide Versus from publicizing news about the police investigation of a report about state legislator Alceu Moreira. The judge ruled that the site’s provider had to withdraw the news about the case and prohibited journalist Vito Vieira, editor of the website, from giving interviews. Vieira faces a possible fine. December 14, 2007--Judge Antônio Carlos de Oliveira Bispo of the 22nd federal circuit court of Belo Horizonte, censored the newspaper Mosaico of Itabira in Minas Gerais. The judge issued the injunction at the request of the city’s mayor, João Izael, who felt that he had been insulted by a news item in the paper and asked the court to block news stories about him and his government with a possible fine of 5,000 reais a day. December 21, 2007—Appeals Judge Luiz Antônio de Godoy of the São Paulo State Supreme Court upheld the injunction issued by Judge Tonia Yuka Kôroko of the 13th federal circuit court of São Paulo prohibiting journalist Juca Kfouri from “offending” state legislator Fernando Capez. The injunction is an act of prior restraint, imposing a 50,000-real fine for every alleged offense. December 21, 2007—Substitute Judge Adriano da Rosa Bastos, of the 1st criminal circuit court of Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, issued an official notice directing 12 communications companies in the state not to publish “any information” about a criminal rape case, alleging that the proceeding was being treated as confidential by the court. January 10, 2008—Judge Joaquim Domingos de Almeida Neto of the Special Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro prohibited four newspapers and six television stations from publicizing the names of two students who attacked a group of prostitutes at a bus stop in Rio de Janeiro city on November 4, 2007. The media outlets, which were also forbidden to publish images of the attacks, are subject to a fine of 10,000 reais, according to the court decision. February 8, 2008—Federal legislator Paulo Pereira da Silva (PDT-SP), known as Paulinho, announced that he would sue the newspapers O Globo and Folha de S. Paulo in several states for publishing articles about alleged transfers of money from the Ministry of Labor to Força Sindical, the labor organization headed by the legislator, on the orders of Carlos Lupi. The strategy is the same one used by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. Paulinho admits it, but stresses a difference: “We are going to take on the lawsuits; we are the ones who file them.” In the case of the church, the lawsuits were filed by parishioners.