(IPYS/IFEX) – On 4 February 2007, Domingues Júnior, a presenter for the television channel Rede TV Rondônia, was assaulted by five men upon arriving home with his family in the city of Porto Velho, northern Brasil. The assailants, who were armed with guns, bound him and hit him in the head; they then tied up […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 4 February 2007, Domingues Júnior, a presenter for the television channel Rede TV Rondônia, was assaulted by five men upon arriving home with his family in the city of Porto Velho, northern Brasil. The assailants, who were armed with guns, bound him and hit him in the head; they then tied up his wife and children. The assailants then fled, taking with them various items belonging to the journalist and his family, including watches, cell phones, credit cards, a motorcycle and a car. The journalist’s wife called the police after the incident.
Júnior suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital.
The journalist suspects the assault was in retaliation for a series of reports he had broadcast on his programme “Fala Rondônia”, in which he accused the state government of buying votes and denounced corruption within the Federal Police.
Júnior started receiving threats via e-mail in December 2006, in which he was told that if he did not stop investigating those cases he would face the consequences.
This alert was prepared by IPYS with information provided by the Brazilian Investigative Journalism Association (Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo, ABRAJI).
