By Maira Magro
Janaina Ribeiro, reporter for Gazetweb, was attacked and robbed the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 8, during a rally in Maceió in support of the candidate for governor of Alagoas in northeast Brazil, Teotonio Vilela Filho.
The reporter said some men tried to keep her from photographing the event, damaging her camera and looking at her threateningly. As she was trying to leave, she was followed and her camera was stolen, according to Gazetaweb. Police who were present at the time refused to help the journalist.
“What happened was a violation of freedom of the press," said Ribeiro, who filed a complaint with police. The committee for Vilela, the candidate, released a statement saying that the incident rang untrue and that the journalist recently was sentenced by the electoral court for spreading false information about the candidate, Tudo Global reported.
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.
