The national executive of the PSDB, the opposition party in Brazil, has threatened to sue controversial journalist Amaury Ribeiro Junior, author of the book A Privataria Tucana, that alleges cases of misappropriation of funds by members of the political party, according to Estadão. The journalist came under fire last year when he was charged with bribery and using false documents.
In a statement published Dec. 26, the political party said the book is a "bundle of documents that prove nothing", alleging that a "preliminary assessment of the book indicates at least 100 errors in 345 pages."
"A Privataria Tucana" highlights documents that show supposed irregularities in privatizations that occurred during the administration of the PSDB, and that friends and relatives of José Serra, the PSDB's ex-presidential candidate, held companies in tax shelters and moved millions of dollars between 1993 and 2003. Published less than a month ago, the book already is on the best-seller list in Brazil, according to the site Publish News.
The book is making waves in social media and among bloggers and alternative media publications, which are questioning the silence of mainstream media. Journalist and author Ribeiro Junior's lack of credibility could be the main argument as to why the media have not reported on the accusations he published in the book, according to Midiamax. During last year's presidential campaign, the journalist was identified as allegedly responsible for the breach of confidentiality of persons linked to the PSDB and indicted by federal police on charges of violations of tax secrecy, bribery, and use of false documents, according to the news site Terra.
