The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji in Portuguese) laments the government's change of heart toward a proposed information access law.
President Dilma Rousseff, who previously had said she would approve a freedom of information bill that limited how long official documents could be kept as classified, bowed under pressure from ex-presidents Fernando Collor and José Sarney to keep some documents out of the public's eye permanently.
According to Abraji, the bill's 50 years maximum limit to keeping documents secret makes sense and should be approved by the Senate, especially considering it already has been approved by the lower house in Congress. Further, the bill benefits information access, freedom of expression, and democracy in general, Abraji said.
“Abraji hopes President Dilma Rousseff reflects on the matter with due seriousness and asks her allies to vote, thinking about the need to make this country more open and transparent," the statement from Abraji concluded.
See this Knight Center map for more information about information access throughout the Americas.
Other Related Headlines:
» Knight Center (What follows an information access law? The fight against Latin America’s secrecy culture)
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
