(IPYS/IFEX) – On 17 May 2005, unidentified persons set fire to journalist Sandra Miranda’s house in Palmas, capital of Tocantins State. Miranda edits the independent newspaper “Primeira Página” and has been working as a journalist for 22 years. According to the police, it is clear the fire was set deliberately. Only a back room was […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 17 May 2005, unidentified persons set fire to journalist Sandra Miranda’s house in Palmas, capital of Tocantins State. Miranda edits the independent newspaper “Primeira Página” and has been working as a journalist for 22 years. According to the police, it is clear the fire was set deliberately. Only a back room was affected.
Miranda stated that the incident may have been connected to her recent reporting on the town’s politicians, nepotism cases and corruption of local military police officers.
This act of intimidation is still under investigation. Since the fire, Miranda has not been able to publish “Primeira Página”. She asked the police for protection for herself and her two children, but has received no assistance to date.
The National Federation of Journalists (Federação Nacional dos Jornalistas) condemned the act and said that “the right to information is a social conquest. Threats and violence against journalists endanger an essential human right, causing enormous damage to society.”
This alert was prepared by IPYS with information provided by the Brazilian Investigative Journalism Association (Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo, ABRAJI).
