(RSF/IFEX) – On 8 April 1998, RSF expressed its profound indignation over the murder of journalist Manoel Leal de Oliveira (for more information on this case see IFEX alert of 1 April 1998). According to the information at RSF’s disposal, Manoel Leal de Oliveira, director of the weekly “A Regiao”, was killed after returning to […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 8 April 1998, RSF expressed its profound indignation over
the
murder of journalist Manoel Leal de Oliveira (for more information on this
case see IFEX alert of 1 April 1998).
According to the information at RSF’s disposal, Manoel Leal de Oliveira,
director of the weekly “A Regiao”, was killed after returning to his home in
Itabuna, in the northeast region of Bahia state. According to local police,
in charge of the investigation led by Chief Joao Jacques Valois, three men
in a white van followed the journalist. Two of the men fired shots, hitting
Leal de Oliveira with six bullets. Children who heard the shots discovered
the journalist’s lifeless body, which was then transported to a local
hospital. Two witnesses claim to have seen the assassins, but no composite
sketch was released.
On 26 March 1998, the National Federation of Journalists (FENAJ) made public
a fax from former Minister of Justice, Iris Resende, which contained a list
of the three suspected assassins. The list named: Marcone Sarmento, a hired
killer who’s been at large since 1995 in connection with another incident,
for which he has never been arrested, Mozart da Costa Brasil, a police
officer from Salvador de Bahia; (the state capital), and
former body guard of the mayor of Itabuna; and Roque de Tal, a police
informant from Salvador de Bahia.
According to an unofficial inquiry, organized by police who are friends of
the victim’s son, the three men named in the FENAJ fax are the murderers.
The local police, however, have claimed that it is too early to make
arrests.
In 1997, Leal de Oliveira published several accounts of corruption, which
implicated Gilson Prata, Salvador de Bahia’s chief of police, Fernando
Gomes, the mayor of Itabuna, and Alice Araujo, the mayor’s secretary. Two of
the suspects, Mozart da Costa Brasil and Roque de Tal, were collaborators of
Gilson Prata.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
this murder to light and to ensure that those responsible are apprehended
and tried without delay
related to the journalist’s investigations
authorities have been implicated, urging them to request that the federal
police open an investigation into this murder
Appeals To
Mr. Fernando Henrique Cardoso
President of the Republic
Brasilia – Brazil
Fax: +55 61 226 7566
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
