“Abraji, the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism, views with concern the decision by the Amapa Justice system ordering journalist Heverson Castro to wear an electronic ankle monitor to serve a sentence of 5 months and 23 days of detention for the alleged crime of defamation.
Heverson Castro was criminally convicted by the Amapa Justice system in a lawsuit filed by a former commander of the state's military police regarding his reporting on a case of police violence that occurred in 2021. The conviction took place in 2023, dismissing the allegations of slander and insult, but ruling that criticisms made regarding the actions of the police officers involved in the case—without directly mentioning the commander—were understood as ‘attributing a dishonorable fact that discredits him.’ ”
