"Local authorities in the southern Brazilian city of Bagé should stop harassing and attempting to censor investigative journalist Giovani Grizotti and allow the press to do their job without retaliation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
On January 13, Bagé mayor Divaldo Lara and communications officer Roberta Mércio shared a photo they claimed is of investigative reporter Giovani Grizotti in a video posted on YouTube, according to a statement from the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul state Journalists’ Union and a news report from Revista Forum.
The video was allegedly in retaliation to Grizotti’s report earlier this month on allegations of corruption involving the mayor, who tried to block the publication for several months, according to court documents reviewed by CPJ."
