By Isabela Fraga
The Brazilian police of Maranhão declared the case of the killing of journalist Décio Sá solved, adding that he was killed for his reporting. The killing happened on April 23, 2012, in a bar in São Luís, capital of the state, reported the newspaper Estado de São Paulo.
Seven of the eight suspects involved in the crime were present on Wednesday, June 13, at the auditorium of the Public Security Bureau in the city, reported G1. Secretary of Public Safety Aluísio Mendes said that the suspects formed part of a statewide gang responsible for usury and extortion crimes, according to Veja.
Sá was a political reporter for the newspaper O Estado do Maranhão and the author of the two most visited blogs in the region. According to the police, the reports about extortion crimes that he published on these blogs were the motive behind his killing, reported the portal Terra.
Part of the police investigation into the crime was done in secrecy after three witnesses' testimonies were exposed online. According to the Estado do Maranhão, the gang of businessmen that ordered the killing of the journalist was aided by military police deputy commander Fábio Aurélio Saraiva Silva, who lent firearms for the killing.
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.
