"Pedro Nakamura, a reporter for O Joio e O Trigo, was once again harassed on Monday, the 17th, by representatives of the tobacco industry. This time, lawmakers and members of corporate associations restricted press freedom during coverage of the 11th Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (COP11), held in Geneva, Switzerland. A press officer for the Interstate Tobacco Industry Union (SindiTabaco) even tried to turn off the reporter’s recording device.
While attempting to enter the venue, Nakamura tried to interview federal lawmaker Rafael Pezenti (MDB-SC). When questioned, Pezenti accused O Joio of pushing an 'ideology' and claimed the reporter “wasn’t doing journalism.” The reporter then asked the lawmaker to stop being disrespectful. 'You’re a weak man. If I can’t tell you the truth without you thinking I’m being disrespectful, then you’re a weak man. I don’t talk to weak people,' Pezenti responded.
Despite repeatedly insulting the reporter, the lawmaker effectively gave the outlet a nearly ten-minute interview while federal lawmaker Marcelo Moraes (PL-RS) recorded the interaction and laughed. The pair had already harassed Nakamura two months earlier during Expointer, the main agribusiness fair in Rio Grande do Sul.
A SindiTabaco press officer began shouting at the reporter, questioning who funds him. At one point, she lunged at Nakamura’s phone in an attempt to turn off his recorder."
