(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Rio de Janeiro State Governor Anthony Garotinho, RSF expressed outrage over the assassination of Mário Coelho de Almeida Filho, director of “A Verdade”, published three times a week in Magé (fifty kilometres from the city of Rio de Janeiro). Since local officials could be implicated in the case, RSF […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Rio de Janeiro State Governor Anthony Garotinho, RSF expressed outrage over the assassination of Mário Coelho de Almeida Filho, director of “A Verdade”, published three times a week in Magé (fifty kilometres from the city of Rio de Janeiro). Since local officials could be implicated in the case, RSF asked that the investigation be placed under the federal police’s jurisdiction in order to shield it from local pressure. “Only a profound investigation that identifies and punishes those responsible for this vile act will prevent another murder from occurring,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. Thirteen journalists have been killed in Brazil since 1991, two in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
According to information obtained by RSF, Coelho de Almeida Filho was shot four times with a 45-calibre gun on 16 August 2001, when he was returning to his home in Magé. According to police, the assasination was the work of a hired killer. The murderer was seen by several witnesses. During the days before the murder, the assassin returned to a bar located close to the journalist’s house three times. The murder occurred the day before Coelho de Almeida Filho was to testify in a defamation trial brought against him by José Camilo Zito dos Santos, mayor of Duque de Caxias, and his wife Narriman Zito, mayor of Magé. The journalist had reported on an alleged misappropriation of funds in the two municipalities. According to a friend of the victim, who requested anonymity, a company working with the Duque de Caxias mayor’s office had contacted the director of “A Verdade” fifteen days earlier to try to buy his silence. The newspaper condemned the local political class’ abuse. Eight defamation charges were allegedly brought against the journalist. According to Coelho de Almeida Filho’s father, his son had received threats three months earlier. He believes that his son was undeniably killed because of his articles.
Thirteen journalists have been killed in Brazil since 1991. Two of them worked in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Aristeu Guida da Silva, owner of the newspaper “A Gazeta de Sao Fidelis”, was killed on 12 May 1995 in Sao Fidelis after publishing articles on the alleged irregularities committed by the municipal government. On 29 August 1995, Reinaldo Coutinho da Silva, owner of “Cachoeiras Jornal”, in the town of Cachoeira de Macacu, was shot behind the wheel of his car after reporting on the alleged irregularities of local police members and while he was preparing to publish accusations that implicated a regional politician.
