(IPYS/IFEX) – On 24 November 2005, Helen Michelet, a correspondent for “A Estância” newspaper and a member of an opposition politician’s press department , in the city of Guarujá, Sao Paulo state, was assaulted during a public meeting led by Mayor Farid Madi. Michelet tried to ask the mayor some questions but he responded by […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 24 November 2005, Helen Michelet, a correspondent for “A Estância” newspaper and a member of an opposition politician’s press department , in the city of Guarujá, Sao Paulo state, was assaulted during a public meeting led by Mayor Farid Madi.
Michelet tried to ask the mayor some questions but he responded by insulting her and the newspaper and claiming that the meeting was only intended for the general public, not the press. Two men then grabbed Michelet by the arm and hit her in the legs. A journalist for “Clarim” newspaper photographed the assault.
According to the municipality, the aggressors were ordinary citizens acting of their own accord in trying to defend the mayor. Nevertheless, the police identified the municipal civil defence coordinator, Elvio José da Silva, as one of the assailants.
Madi reportedly did not want to answer Michelet’s questions because she works for his political adversary’s press department. Local press union director José Rodrígues expressed the union’s condemnation of the incident.
This alert was prepared by IPYS with information provided by the Brazilian Investigative Journalism Association (Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo, ABRAJI).
