(IPYS/IFEX) – On 13 May 2005, journalist Fernando de Santis reported that he received anonymous death threats on 9 and 13 April over his home telephone in Ilhabela, a small town by the north coast of São Paulo state. The caller also threatened to kill his one-year-old son. Since 2003, Santis has been investigating corruption […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 13 May 2005, journalist Fernando de Santis reported that he received anonymous death threats on 9 and 13 April over his home telephone in Ilhabela, a small town by the north coast of São Paulo state. The caller also threatened to kill his one-year-old son.
Since 2003, Santis has been investigating corruption stories involving local Mayor Marco de Jesus Ferreira’s administration. The journalist linked the recent threats to the mayor. “I have no proof to connect the threats to the mayor, but it is a fact that the pursuit against me began right after I ran the first corruption stories,” the journalist said.
Santis asked the São Paulo Journalists’ Union for assistance. The organisation sent a formal complaint to the São Paulo State Public Security Office. Though Santis was approached by the town’s deputy, no protection has been offered yet. The journalist says he does not feel safe and is planning on leaving Ilhabela.
Ferreira was previously cited in a corruption story about real estate agencies that ran in the daily “O Estado de São Paulo” (see IFEX alert of 8 April 2005). The daily accused the agencies, including an office owned by the mayor, of trying to stop the circulation of the paper’s 23 March edition, which included the corruption story, by buying all the copies of the issue at local newsstands. “There is no proof to any of these accusations,” City Hall said.
On 5 May, the National Justice Department said Ferreira should be removed from his mayoral post, making him unable to run for office for three years. The sentence is pending appeal.
This alert was prepared by IPYS with information provided by the Brazilian Investigative Journalism Association (Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo, ABRAJI).
