Brasil

Aa
$.-
WHEREAS Brazil has been living for more than three months with a case of judicial censorship against the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, based on the allegation that confidentiality about an investigation of alleged irregularities by businessman Fernando Sarney applies to information obtained legitimately by the newspaper concerning the federal police operation Faktor, and the court´s ruling has blocked publication or reports on the matter since July 31 WHEREAS a decision by Associate Justice Dácio Vieira of a Federal District Court also prohibits other media outlets of the Grupo Estado , including radio and television stations, the news agency and Internet, to use or quote information about the case published by O Estado de S. Paulo under penalty, in case of noncompliance, of a 150,000-real fine for “each act violating this court order” WHEREAS the reports of the investigation published by O Estado de S. Paulo are based on recordings, obtained legitimately by the newspaper, of telephone conversations between the businessman and several people, including his father, José Sarney, former president of Brazil and currently president of the Federal Senate, whose family controls, among other businesses, a media group that has radio and television stations WHEREAS in its defense, O Estado de S. Paulo filed an appeal, alleging conflict of interest by the Judge Vieira (motion to recuse) because he is a former official of the Senate, presided by José Sarney, and there is evidence that he had a close personal relationship with the Sarney family WHEREAS nevertheless, Dácio Vieira declared that he had the authority to hear the case and, at the same time, made critical comments about the newspaper, and the Grupo Estado filed a new motion to recuse, and, on September 15, the Federal District Court ruled that Vieira was not competent to rule on the censorship request and named Associate Justice Lecir Manoel da Luz to replace him as reporting judge WHEREAS nevertheless, the original decision establishing prior restraint, inexplicably was maintained WHEREAS on September 30, in a new contradictory decision, the Federal District Court, ruled that it was not competent to hear the case, and sent it to the federal court in the state of Maranhão and at the same time it upheld the preliminary order of Justice Vieira confirming the censorship WHEREAS on October 21, the Fifth Panel of the Federal District court heard the newspaper´s appeal and confirmed the September 30 decision, keeping the censorship in effect WHEREAS Article 10 of the Declaration of Chapultepec says, “No news medium nor journalist may be punished for publishing the truth or criticizing or denouncing the government” THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to ask the chief judges of the Supreme Court and the Superior Court and other judicial authorities to intervene and act directly to speed up the process of restoring full press freedom in Brazil, whose Federal Constitution clearly and definitively prohibits prior restraint on the media to express to the Sarney family its disappointment about the restriction imposed on the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo and its various media outlets using a process and mechanisms that contradict and violate the rights to inform and be informed, pillars of the democratic system that at one time were defended by that family.

Share

0