After seven months of investigation, police in the Brazilian state of Goiás are closer to solving the killing of sports commentator Valério de Oliveira. Last Friday, Feb. 1, police arrested three suspects for the crime, reported the newspaper Diário da Manhã. The following day, the former deputy chairman of the Goiás Atheletic Club Maurício Sampaio was also arrested for alledgedly ordering the killing.
Valério Luiz, who worked for Rádio Jornal 820 in the city of Goinânia, was shot seven times at the front door of the broadaster's offices on July 5, 2012. Before his killing, the commentator had received threats from the soccer club's leaders and was banned from entering the premises.
The organization Reporters Without Borders welcomed the news, “Sampaio’s arrest seems to support that theory that Luiz was killed as a reprisal for criticizing the Atlético-Goiás management on the air,” Reporters Without Borders said. “While respecting the presumption of innocence, we welcome the progress in the police investigation," the group said on its website.
According to the organization, while Brazilian journalists still face insecurity, especially at the local level, the country distinguishes itself from others in the region for its efforts to combat impunity.
Last year, there were 11 killed journalists in Brazil, according to the Press Emblem Campaign. Mounting violence against the press contributed to Brazil's plummeting ranking in the World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders. This year, a Brazilian radio director in São João sa Barra was the first journalist killed in the Americas.
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.
