Posts Tagged ‘Brazil’
February 7th, 2012
Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez has been
denied permission to leave the island to visit
Brazil. Last month, Sanchez f
ormally appealed to the Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to enter the country so that she could attend the screening of a documentary about press freedom in Cuba and Honduras in which she features. The
blogger tweeted that this was the 19th time she has been denied the right to enter and leave the country. Migration rules that require Cubans to receive government permission to travel have prevented Sánchez from leaving the country since 2004.
January 6th, 2012
Dissident
Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez has
appealed to Brazil’s president to help her leave the Caribbean island. A strong critic of the country’s Communist regime, Sánchez has been accused by authorities of conducting a “cyberwar” against the government. Sánchez’s
video appeal to Dilma Rousseff follows her invitation to Brazil to attend the screening of a documentary about press freedom in Cuba and Honduras in which she features. The blogger said she did not expect to be able to leave Cuba without ”high-level intervention”. Migration rules that require Cubans to receive government permission to travel have prevented Sánchez from leaving the country since 2004.
January 4th, 2012
Brazilian radio reporter Laécio de Souza was
shot dead by two men yesterday in Salvador, in the north east of the country. Police said the journalist, a local news reporter for radio station Sucesso FM, had been
receiving threats on his mobile phone in the lead up to his murder. Police have not released a motive for the crime, although it has been
suggested local drug traffickers were upset with the journalist’s plans to construct a social project on his land.
September 13th, 2011
Valderlei Canuto Leandro, host of the show Sinal Verde on Radio Frontera,
was murdered by unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle in Tabatinga, located in the
Brazilian state of Amazonas, on 1 September. Local
bloggers say Canuto was known for his criticism of local politics. In May, Canuto filed a complaint claiming that Tabatinga’s mayor Samuel Benerguy had threatened him with death for reporting on corruption in the municipality.
September 7th, 2011
A court in the
Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul has
prohibited media outlets operated by Grupo RBS from publishing the name or image of councilman, Adenir Mengue Webber, who is involved in a public funds scandal. Failure to comply with the ruling could result in a 600 USD-a-day fine. In August 2010, Fantástico, a TV programme, presented a series of reports denouncing trips taken by council members using state funds. The politicians justified the trips, saying they involved training courses. The
National Association of Newspapers and the
Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism both
condemned the ruling, saying it violated freedom of expression.
August 31st, 2011
Courts in the
Brazilian state of Ceará have
blocked access to 140,000 USD in the accounts of Google Brazil after the internet giant refused to take down a series of blogs with content deemed “offensive” toward the mayor of Várzea Alegre. The blogs in question accuse the mayor of corruption and diverting public funds, although no sources have been cited for the accusations. The mayor has reportedly said the blogs’ anonymous messages smear his image.
August 26th, 2011
The
Brazilian Superior Court of Justice this week
sentenced J.L. Editora, publisher of the newspaper Folha do Espirito Santo, and journalists Jackson Rangel Vieira and Hinger Mansur to pay Judge Camilo José D’Ávila Couto for moral damages. The judge accused the journalists and publisher of publishing articles that distorted facts and contained slanderous content, in which Couto was described as “omnipotent,” “young without experience,” “vindictive,” and “drunk with power.” The judge considered them attacks on his honour, public image and personal integrity.
August 16th, 2011
Marina Silva, a photojournalist for
Brazilian newspaper Correio, was
arrested on 11 August while covering the killing of a military police sergeant in the northeastern city of Salvador de Bahía. The military police claimed that Silva challenged the police officers, while reports say that Silva and other witnesses deny the allegation. The Bahian Journalists’ Union accused the police of brutality, claiming in a statement that officers broke Silva’s arm, pushed her against a vehicle and tried to break her camera. The Secretary of Public Security in Bahía said the case is under investigation and promised to determine if the police used excessive force in the journalist’s arrest.
