By Maira Magro
Maurício Machado, journalist and owner of Jornal Atualidades in Marília, São Paulo, was granted pretrial release after spending six days in prison under charges of extorting a federal deputy, O Estado de S. Paulo reports. Prosecutors say the journalist planned to publish false stories about the deputy to force him to buy advertising at the paper.
According to Terra, Machado was filmed in the politician’s office, where he allegedly demanded several types of bribes – including an $8,000 payment – not to publish the unfavorable articles.
In a press conference after his release, Machado accused the deputy of corruption, denied engaging in extortion, and claimed that money he received was was a debt the politician owed the paper, Diário de Marília reports.
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.
