In the early morning of Tuesday, March 6, a communications tower of a community radio station was destroyed in Santo Antônio do Leverger, roughly 20 miles from Cuiabá, capital of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. The journalist in charge of the radio station, Júlio Pedroso, said he suspected that the vandalism was tied to political reasons, reported the news site Gazeta Digital.
The antenna of the radio station Rio Abaixo (87.9 FM) was cut off, which kept the station off the air for 24 hours. The damages occurred at a strategic moment for the mayor Harrison Ribeiro (PSDB), reported the website MT Notícias. On the morning of Tuesday, March 6, the politician was supposed to appear before the city council to give a report on his administration's budgets, which were not approved by the State Court of Auditors. The mayor's report was supposed to have been broadcast live by the radio station, Pedroso said.
The mayor denied being involved with the incident and announced that he is going to sue for defamation, reported the news site Olhar Direto.
Pedroso told the news site Cenário MT that this is not the first time that the radio station has been attacked and forced off the air. For example, in 2008 and 2010, communication equipment was stolen. This time damages are estimated to be roughly $5,500.
