In a study launched Monday, May 2, Freedom House classified Brazil as only “partially free” and placed it as the 90th in the world for press freedom and only 22nd (out of 35) in the Americas. What is helping drive this relatively low ranking is the use of the courts to harass journalists.
In a talk to commemorate World Press Freedom Day on May 3, Brazil’s UNESCO representative, Vincent Defourny, called for the passage of a stalled public information access law, G1 reports.
Brazilian journalist Valério Nascimento was found dead on May 3, after having been shot repeatedly in the city of Rio Claro in the interior of Rio de Janeiro state, iG and the Associated Press report. The crime was the second journalist killed on the same day as the celebrations for World Press Freedom Day 2011.
Estado de S. Paulo reports that its journalist, Gabriel Toueg, was briefly detained by subway security in São Paulo to stop him from recording an altercation between the officers and several young women.
Against the expectations of Brazil's President Dilma Roussef, the proposed information access law will not be approved Tuesday, May 3, World Press Freedom Day, as originally anticipated. Former president Fernando Collor de Mello, who was impeached in 1992 and is a current senator for the center-right Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), halted the information access bill, reported Folha de S. Paulo.
A state judge in Brazil's Federal District (DF) sentenced Editora Abril – the company that publishes Veja magazine – and journalist Diego Escosteguy to pay $64,000 in damages to ex DF Governor Joaquim Roriz, reports Consultor Jurídico. The court ruled that Veja magazine used offensive language in a story that discussed the politician.
Brazil’s National Union of Islamic Bodies (UNI) launched an online campaign to gather 5,000 signatures in order to sue Veja magazine for the April 6 article “Brazil’s Terror Network.”
Senator Roberto Requião (PMDB) forcefully took Radio Bandeirantes reporter Victor Boyadjian’s tape recorder after being asked about his $15,000 a month pension, O Globo reports. He receives the pension as the former governor of Paraná, a post from which he resigned to run for the Senate.
On May 24, drug traffickers tossed three homemade bombs toward the press team covering a police raid in the north zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, iG reports.
A judge in Tocantins state has issued an indefinite injunction against the Portal Arnaldo Filho news site, blocking it from publishing complaints by ex-workers at a private school in the city of Araguaína, Conexão Tocantins reports.
In a joint session on April 19, the Human Rights and Science and Technology committees passed an information access bill, which ends the state of indefinite secrecy for public records, the Agência Senado reports.
The Parliamentary Front for Freedom of Expression and the Right to Communication with Popular Participation was launched by Brazilian lawmakers on April 19, Agência Câmara dos Deputados reports.