"The courts have condemned the mayor of Oriximiná (Park, Brazil), Delegado Fonseca, for assaulting a journalist in a public place with a kick and a punch, and damaging the journalist's cell phone as a result.
The incident took place in June last year. Judge José Gomes de Araújo Filho handed down the first-degree sentence in the Oriximiná Special Civil Court this past Thursday (Sept. 21). An appeal is pending.
For the material damage caused to journalist Waldiney Ferreira, Mayor Delegado Fonseca will have to pay R$ 2,798.00 [US $555], plus a further R$ 5,000 [close to US $1,000] for moral damages.
'It cannot be tolerated that civilized people resolve their differences or disagreements on the basis of physical aggression. Those who do so must receive a legal response to match, not only from the point of view of compensating the victim, but also from the point of view of dissuasion, of re-educating the aggressor to stop solving their problems using brute force,' said the judge."
Read original story (in Portuguese)
