MIAMI, Florida (May 30, 2019)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) condemned the murder in Brazil of Robson Giorno, founder of the news website Jornal O Maricá. The organization urged the authorities to investigate with diligence all theories in order to determine the motive for the crime.
Giorno, owner of the digital daily newspaper Jornal O Maricá, was murdered on Saturday, May 25, in the town of Maricá, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. He was attacked outside his home at around 10 p.m. by a group of people driving by in a vehicle. He was shot three times. According to the police the crime was premeditated.
IAPA President María Elvira Domínguez, editor of the Cali, Colombia, newspaper El País, condemned Giorno's murder, the first of this type in Brazil this year, and expressed sympathy to his family and colleagues. She added, "We will continue insisting on the need to give priority to the investigation and punishment of all those involved, both in this crime and in the numerous murders of journalists in Brazil whose cases have not yet been solved."
The chairman of the IAPA's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Roberto Rock, editor of the Mexico City, Mexico, news portal La Silla Rota, declared, "Along with the investigation of and opportune penalty for these murders it is necessary for the government to also guarantee and provide the required resources for the effective functioning of the programs of protection of victims and witnesses."
Giorno was also chairman of the Social Liberal Party (PSI) in Maricá and a pre-candidate to the mayor's office in 2015. Currently he was a pre-candidate for that post for the Avante party. According to a colleague he had received threats. It is not known if the murder is linked to his work as a journalist.
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida.
