Impunity in cases of murders of journalists while performing their work has been a source of concern, there having occurred two more murders of journalists in the period from October 1, 2012 to March 7, 2013. Another course of concern is the recurrence of court decisions that impose a prior prohibition on the dissemination of information by media outlets, such as the case of the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, which continues to be prohibited form publishing information about the case against the son of José Sarney, former President of the Republic and Senate President. Prior censorship through the courts, applied in general by lower court judges, increases during periods of election campaigns.
Also to be mentioned is the verbal outburst of the president of the Federal Supreme Court, Justice Joaquim Barbosa, on March 5, as he responded harshly to a question asked him by journalist Felipe Redondo from O Estado de S. Paulo. Before Redondo could finish his question, the Justice said Leave me alone, young man. Go wallow in the garbage, as you always do. As he entered the elevator he called the journalist a clown. In a note from his press aide, the Justice immediately apologized, explaining that he was overcome with fatigue and pain, and pointed out that it was an isolated case that would not be repeated and reaffirmed his belief in the important role played by the press in a democracy.
In this period, two murders, nine acts of aggression, five cases of censorship, and six threats have occurred, for a total of twenty-two cases reported.
On February 18, radio reporter Wilson de Carvalho received a death threat from Sebastião Souza Alves, known as Tião Sereia, who is a retired uniformed police officer and vice mayor of Aquidauana, MS. Carvalho is the editor in chief of the Aquidauana News portal in Mato Grosso do Sul state. After the end of this program A Bronca , the reporter received a call from the politician, who cursed and threatened him. Tião Sereia was emphatic in saying that if Carvalho brought up his name again, something serious would happen. The telephone call occurred because of the Aquidauana report Tião Sereias neighborhood is neglected, written and published on the Aquidauana News portal and disseminated on FM 100.9, both under the direction of Wilson de Carvalho.
On February 18, a student from Santa Catarina state, Isadora Faber, 13, author of the Facebook page Diário de Classe , was threatened with death on Facebook. Isadora shared said messages on her page, which contained curses and a threat to put a bullet through the heads of her mother and father. The teenagers father, Christian Faber, filed a complaint at the 8th Precinct of the Civil Police. He said that he did not know of a suspect in the threats, nor the reason. On November 5, the students grandmother was hit in the head with a stone. In 2012, the girl had created a fan page to describe problems with the teaching and the physical facilities of her school, the Escola Básica Maria Tomázia Coelho, in Florianópolis, SC. A short time later, the family began to suffer intimidations.
On February 5, city councilman César Gelsi (PSDB-SP) , delivered a death threat to reporter Rodrigo Lima of the Diário da Região, during a city council meeting of São José do Rio Preto, SP. The argument happened in the midst of an interview being recorded by another reporter from the paper. In the midst of his cursing and name calling, the politician was said to have spoken phrases to Lima such as if I hit you in the middle of your head, your brain will spill out. The councilman added that he will die in peace on the day that that guy meets his misfortune. The reporter filed a complaint and admitted that he was upset by the situation. In thirteen years at the Diário, this had never happened. I am particularly upset and concerned because he had already intimidated other councilmen, he told the website Comunique-se.
On February 4, journalist Bruno Sales of TV Band Bahia was kicked and shoved during a police activity in the neighborhood of Federação, in Salvador, BA. According to the reporter, he was on his way to a friends house with his wife and one-year-old son when three police officers approached them and pointed their guns at his head. Bruno stated that he gave the policemen his drivers license and the automobile documents. He said that he is still unaware of the reason for the approach and the aggression.
On December 23, photographer Janderson Nobre of the Folha da Boa Vista was expelled from an event organized by the governor of Roraima state. According to the newspaper, the head of the Military Police of Roraima, Edson Prola, attacked the reporter and forcibly removed him from the place, where governor Anchieta Junior was distributing Christmas toys. Moreover, according to the newspaper, the governor witnessed the aggression, but did nothing to stop it and did not speak about the case.
On December 18, journalist Mauri König, a reporter for Gazeta do Povo of Curitiba and head of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), received an anonymous threat stating that his house would be machine-gunned by uniformed police officers. For safety reasons, he and his family left their home in Curitiba, PR, and took refuge at an unknown address, under the constant protection of guards hired by the newspaper. In addition to that specific threat, the papers newsroom received a number of telephone calls delivering direct threats, in addition to alerts on assaults that were being planned against reporters, with König cited by name. Days later, König and his family were sent abroad by the newspaper. In May, 2012, he had coordinated a series of reports published in the Gazeta do Povo under the title Outlaw Policemen. The texts revealed, among other things, that agents were using police vehicles for personal matters, such as visits to houses of prostitution during working hours.
On December 13, journalist José Cristian Góes was surprised with the news that he was a defendant in two cases brought by an appeals judge of the Court of Justice of Sergipe (TJ-SE), Edson Ulisses de Melo. The judge felt harmed by a fictional text, published on the Infonet portal in May of this year and titled I, the Colonel in Me. The text is a confession in the first person, where an imaginary character of the times of slavery feels obligated to deal with democratic matters. According to Góes, the article had no name, last name, nor anyones specific characteristics. In addition, there is no citation of place, date, or function that would identify the judge in the text. The judge is a brother-in-law of the governor of the state of Sergipe, Marcelo Déda (PT) , and interpreted the words I called an outlaw, not by coincidence the my sister´s husband, as direct criticism of him.
On November 26, by decision of Judge James Hamilton de Oliveira Macedo, (first Civil Court of the District of Campo Mourão), media outlets Gazeta do Povo, Tribuna do Interior, TV Carajás, Rádio T, Rádio Colmeia, Rádio Humaitá, and the websites Tásabendo.com and Coluna do Ely, of Paraná, were prohibited from mentioning the name of Regina Dubay, the candidate elected as mayor of Campo Mourão, PR, and that of the bus company Expresso Nordeste, in articles related to supposed electoral crimes during the last campaign. Disobedience of the order could generate a fine of R$ 30,000. Dubay is being investigated by the Electoral Courts on suspicion of having benefited in the campaign for mayor by the irregular distribution of bus tickets acquired by the municipal government in a bidding process.
On October 28, reporter André Falcão and cameraman Wagner Martins, of TV Gazeta, of Vitória, ES, were attacked by campaign workers of the defeated candidate for mayor of Vila Velha, ES, Neucimar Fraga. Besides suffering wounds, one of the journalists fainted and was stepped on by the people at the location. During the confrontation, several persons were attacked and the cameraman, Lucas Barcelos of TV Vitória, had his equipment broken by the militants.
On October 26, journalist Lisânia Ghisi revealed that she was being intimidated by an official of the uniformed police, Captain Eduardo Ticianel Paccola. Ghisi says that the threats began after publication of an article about the murder of a police officer in the municipality of Várzea Grande. According to Ghisi, Capt. Paccola made aggressive statements about what had happened on a social media post. On the day the article was published, Ghisi posted a photo form the article on her Facebook page, insinuating that her behavior would not change after publication of the article. The post had a lot of repercussion, and in their comments, several people expressed their support for the slain officer. The reporter chose to seek out the deputy commander of the uniformed police, who stated that Paccola would be called in for an explanation.
On October 9, two teams of reporters from the Romulo Maiorana Organization (ORM) were attacked before the committee of former mayoral candidate in Belém, PA, José Priante (PMDB) , in an attempt to prevent the recording of a protest over the payment of honoraria for services rendered during the electoral campaign. Members of the party attacked the team for the ORM portal, made up of reporter Bruno Magno and driver Bruno Macedo, along with reporter Evandro Flexa, from O Liberal, and photographer Tarso Sarraf.
On October 8, reporter Márcio Rangel, of TV Correio, was threatened and had his car damaged by a group of persons who were celebrating the victory of the candidate elected mayor of Lagoa Seca, PB, José Tadeu Sales (PSC). Around 300 supports of the candidate stopped in front of the home of reporter Márcio Rangel and made threats against him and his family. The reason for the aggressive action was supposedly that the reporter had worked as an aide to the losing candidate, Fábio Ramalho (SPD).
On October 7, radio reporter Armando de Amorin Anache and his family were attacked by persons connected with reelected mayor of Aquidauana, MS, Fauzi Suleiman (PMDB). According to Anache, after the election a car stopped in front of my house and the people who were inside it shot rockets and threw bombs against the porch of the house, he said. Anache is the owner of Rádio Independente and the Internet news website Pantanal News. Since 1990, he has worked as an investigative journalist, denouncing political corruption and drug trafficking, which has generated acts of aggression and death threats. The mayors employee Tania M. Ferrari and his mother were in the car from which the bombs were thrown.
On October 7, journalist Rosinaldo Vieira was attacked by supporters of reelected city councilman of Natal, Aquino Neto. The journalist relates that he was making deliveries of the community newspaper in Cidade Satélite. The monthly paper had on its front page a story on the councilmen who were running for reelection and who were involved in Operation Impact (a joint operation of the Prosecutors Office, the Federal Police, the Civil Police and the Uniformed Police to fight gambling and trafficking in arms and drugs). Vieira reported that he was assaulted with blows to his ear and face, kicks to his legs, and obscene shouts.
On October 7, a journalist with the Correio Mariliense, Felix Naveda, was attacked by five persons while he was covering a political demonstration for candidate Ticiano Tóffoli (PT) in the neighborhood of Fragata in downtown Marília, SP. He was assaulted with slaps and kicks while trying to cover a conflict among campaign workers. Naveda was close to the altercation and he took out his cellular device to record scenes of the violence. Realizing that they were being caught on camera, some five campaign workers wearing the red tee shirts of the PT stopped fighting with the PSB workers and turned on the journalist.
On October 7, reporter Natália Oliver of the Diário de Guarulhos was attacked when he came upon the head of PROCON in Guarulhos, José Wilson, carrying out campaign activities at the polling place for the present chairperson of the city council and candidate for reelection for the PSD, Eduardo Solter. That is a crime under election law.
On October 6, by court order, the Jornal do Povo of Cachoeira do Sul, RS, was obligated to take off the air a report telling of an investigation by the Prosecutors Office on vote buying. The text referred to 150 fuel vouchers apprehended by the Civil Police, considered evidence of a supposed electoral crime, and the possible involvement of a certain coalition that was disputing the municipal election. Lawyers for the political group asked the judge to order suppression of the article, in compliance with the court order. The JP altered the text but it retained the name of the coalition and was notified by the courts once again on the same day.
On October 5, graphic reporter Moacyr Lopes Junior of the Folha de São Paulo, was the victim of aggression of the part of a PT militant during a march for mayoral candidate Fernando Haddad on Friday afternoon, in the center of São Paulo. On the street 7 de Abril, the journalist tripped and fell down next to a campaign militant. As he got up, he was held by the neck and received a choking while he was trying to protect his professional equipment. The candidate expressed solidarity with the reporter when told of the incident.
On October 5, Judge Naira Neila Batista de Oliveira Norte, the Coordinating Judge for Political Advertising in Manaus, AM, ordered that journalist Ricardo Noblat remove from his blog all photographs alluding to Senator and mayoral candidate for Manaus, Vanessa Grazziotin (Brazilian Communist Party). The decision was related to a report of an act of aggression suffered by Grazziotin. As she was arriving for a debate among candidates in Manaus, she was spit upon. After the debate, she flew to Brasília and made a speech in the Senate, stating that she had been the victim of an egg throwing. Photographs on a social network and the testimony of a legal advisor of the candidate herself refuted the speech made in Congress. The journalist had merely told the facts on his blog. The Senator went to court with a request for right of reply to what had been posted about the false egg assault supposedly suffered by her. That right was denied by Judge Alexandre Henrique Novaes of Araújo, Coordinating Judge for Political Advertising for the state of Amazonas.
On February 22, radio journalist Mafaldo Bezerra Goes, 61, of Jaguaribe, CE, was killed. Goes was assaulted as he left his home to go to work at Rádio Jaguaribe FM. Two suspects on a motorcycle cut off his car and fired five rounds at the journalist, causing instant death. Previously, he had received death threats. Goes had a police report program on the radio and had denounced suspects of drug trafficking and murder.
On March 8, journalist Rodrigo Neto was murdered. He was a police reporter and host of a program on Rádio Vanguarda in Ipatinga, Minas Gerais. He was killed with two shots from two unidentified motorcyclists when he was getting in his car. One week before his murder, Rodrigo Neto had begun to work also as an editor at the newspaper Vale do Aço. He had received death threats recently that he said were related to his work as a journalist.
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