(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 17 October 2006 IAPA press release: SIP concerned about court decisions in Brazil that are impeding journalism during election period Miami (17 October 2006) – IAPA has expressed its concern regarding actions limiting freedom of expression taken by the electoral courts in Brazil during this year’s election period, in […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 17 October 2006 IAPA press release:
SIP concerned about court decisions in Brazil that are impeding journalism during election period
Miami (17 October 2006) – IAPA has expressed its concern regarding actions limiting freedom of expression taken by the electoral courts in Brazil during this year’s election period, in which, using the pretext that some media outlets and journalists are not impartial in their coverage, judges are forbidding the dissemination of journalists’ work and opinion columns.
The most recent case, concerning the second round in the presidential elections, occurred when Minister Ari Pargendler, of the Higher Electoral Court (Tribunal Superior Electoral, TSE), ruled that columnist Arnaldo Jabor’s 10 October comments had to be removed from the internet pages of CBN radio station and its affiliates. The judge considered that the comments favoured presidential candidate Geraldo Alckmin (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, PSDB) and were prejudicial to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT), running for re-election. This was done in response to a request by the coalition “A Força do Povo” (PT-Partido Republicano Brasileiro, PRB-Partido Comunista de Brasil, PCdoB), which is supporting President Da Silva’s reelection.
Gonzalo Marroquín, chairman of IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, said that although tensions with the press intensify during election campaigns, “that is precisely when the democratic system must function more efficiently so that the indispensable work of journalists, who allow citizens to receive more information so they can take better decisions, is not obstructed.”
In its recent report on press freedom in Brazil, released on 3 October 2006, SIP expressed its concern about court actions and administrative decisions that have affected the normal work of media outlets during the election campaign.
On 30 August, Federal Police agents raided the headquarters of “Hoje” weekly newspaper in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and of Verdade graphic printing press, in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo state, which prints the newspaper, to confiscate the computers. Journalist Joseti Alves, who is also manager of the newspaper, said that prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office (Ministerio Público) accused her of violating electoral laws by disseminating information about irregularities in the use of public funds, involving a federal congressional representative, an ex-minister and local prosecutors.
On 19 May, “Folha do Amapá” weekly circulated with an editorial protest against the Partido Democrático Trabalhista (PDT), because the state’s Regional Electoral Court had decided to suspend, at the request of the PDT, electronic issue number 571, which had been disseminated on 12 May. The censorship was over the report “Sólida despide, embauca y desaparece”, published in the 12 May edition, which reported on massive dismissals by Sólida Mineração mining company and criticized the governor, a PDT member, for not fulfilling his promises. “Folha do Amapá” has ties to former governor João Capibaribe (Partido Socialista Brasileiro, PSB). Auxiliary Judge Anselmo Gonçalves da Silva ordered that the on-line issue be pulled, stipulating that the newspaper would be fined 5,000 Reais (approx. US$2,340) if it disobeyed.
Marroquín considers these actions damaging to freedom of the press, which is guaranteed in articles 5 and 220 of the Brazilian Constitution.
