A court released Antônio Muniz two days after he was jailed in connection with a 2002 conviction on a charge of defaming a senator.
(RSF/IFEX) – A court in the Amazonian state of Acre released Antônio Muniz, a local TV commentator and columnist for the daily newspaper “O Rio Branco”, on 4 December 2009, two days after he was jailed in connection with a 2002 conviction on a charge of defaming a senator.
“The court’s decision was necessary because press offences have been decriminalised,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We are shocked that the court nonetheless forced Muniz to appear in handcuffs at a closed-door hearing, violating federal court resolutions. The local court clearly found it hard to recognise its mistake.”
Imprisonment for press offences has been abolished in Brazil as a result of a Federal Supreme Court decision on 30 April repealing the 1967 press law.
