(IPYS/IFEX) – On 15 March 2005, a vehicle owned by the RBS television network was set on fire near the town of Sarandi, Rio Grande do Sul state. RBS cameraman Éverton Machado and reporter Leonel Lacerda were on a highway, covering a demonstration by farmers against federal proposals to control a drought in the region. […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 15 March 2005, a vehicle owned by the RBS television network was set on fire near the town of Sarandi, Rio Grande do Sul state. RBS cameraman Éverton Machado and reporter Leonel Lacerda were on a highway, covering a demonstration by farmers against federal proposals to control a drought in the region. The event was organised by the Landless Workers’ Movement, Via Campesina and the Small-Scale Farmers’ Movement.
Machado and Lacerda were recording an interview with a spokesperson for one of the groups when at least four demonstrators grabbed the camera and threw the equipment into the RBS vehicle. Seconds later, the vehicle was set on fire. According to Lacerda, the journalists were not hurt and they left the scene of the incident protected by one of the local coordinators of the protest.
RBS journalists believe the attack may be linked to a recent report circulated by a news agency owned by the RBS chain about an investigation into corruption in one of the government’s programmes for small-scale farmers. The authorities who are investigating the case suspect that part of the money originally destined for the farmers was instead used to finance some of the Landless Workers’ Movement protests in the region.
This alert was prepared by IPYS with information provided by the Brazilian Investigative Journalism Association (Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo, ABRAJI).
