Gunman kills reporter in Brazil

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 25 April 2012

Brazilian political reporter Decio Sa was shot dead while dining at a restaurant in Sao Luis, and colleagues said he was targeted for his reporting. Press groups said he was the fourth journalist killed in Brazil in 2012, raising concerns about impunity.

Summary

SAO PAULO--A crusading reporter who "breathed, dreamed and lived journalism 24 hours a day" was gunned down as he ate dinner, and colleagues said they are certain he was killed because of his work.

DecioSa, a political reporter for the newspaper O Estado do Maranhao in northeastern Brazil, was at least the fourth journalist slain this year in the South American nation, one of the deadliest for reporters to work in. "For sure he was killed because of his work as a reporter," Silvia Moscoso, the newspaper's state affairs editor, said by telephone.

"Over his at least 17 years at the newspaper he made a long list of enemies, many of whom I imagine would love to see him dead." "But he denounced so many people and so much corruption that it is impossible to say who was behind his murder," she added. A gunman fired six bullets into Sa's head and chest in a restaurant in the state capital of Sao Luis on Monday night.

He died instantly and the killer fled on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice who was waiting outside, the Maranhao state public safety department said in a statement.

Brazil's National Newspaper Association said on its website that Sa was killed because of his "courageous coverage of crimes committed by hired gunmen." "He was the fourth journalist to be murdered in Brazil in 2012, highlighting the pernicious effect of the impunity that surrounds attempts made against professionals who work to better inform citizens," the statement added.

The New York City-based Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, says on its website that 21 Brazilian journalists have been killed since 1992. "We've documented a rise in press crimes in Brazil, crimes against journalists, and we're concerned," said Carlos Lauria, Americas program coordinator at CPJ.

Brazilian journalists like Sa working outside the big cities like Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are "wide open to attacks," he said. "The pattern of journalists being killed tells us that those reporting on sensitive issues like local corruption are being targeted and killed," Lauria added.

Last week, the CPJ issued its annual "Impunity Index" -- a ranking of nations where the murders of journalists go unpunished, taking into account killings committed from 2002 until the end of 2011. It divides the number of unsolved murders into the total population to create the rating. Brazil ranks No. 11 on the list. Other Latin American nations are on the list, with Colombia at No.

5 and Mexico at No. 8. Moscoso, the editor at Sa's newspaper, described him as a "bold, loquacious and extremely friendly and generous reporter who breathed, dreamed and lived journalism 24 hours a day." She said she never heard Sa mention death threats.

But, she added, although "his death shocked all of us, it really did not take us by surprise." Sa, who was 42, is survived by his wife, Silvana, who is pregnant with their second child, and their 8-year-old-daughter. – AP

KEY POINTS:

• Decio Sa, 42, was shot six times in a Sao Luis restaurant and died at the scene, police said.
• Colleagues at O Estado do Maranhao said his reporting on corruption and crime likely motivated the killing.
• Brazil’s National Newspaper Association said Sa’s work included coverage of crimes by hired gunmen.
• CPJ noted a rise in attacks on journalists outside major Brazilian cities and said sensitive reporting can make reporters targets.
• Brazil ranked 11th on CPJ’s Impunity Index for unsolved journalist murders.