A former city council president in the northeastern Brazilian town of Patos threatened two local radio show hosts, Jozivan Antero and Abrantes Júnior, on March 15, 2018, days after they reported on accusations of alleged corruption during their two shows, according to the news website Central Vale Notícia.
The former council president, Marcos Eduardo, told Júnior that he “didn’t kill Jozivan [Antero] and you because of my family,” as law enforcement officials in the city council chamber restrained him from attacking the journalist, according to a video Júnior took of the altercation and posted to Facebook and which was later republished on the news website Paraíba Já.
In his March 17 Facebook post, Júnior said he had approached Eduardo to get comment about his and his wife’s alleged involvement in corrupt voting practices.
“His reaction was to slap my cellphone and then kick it as it fell from my hand. I picked it up and started to film his behavior,” Júnior wrote.
CPJ’s calls to the mayor’s office and the city council office to get comment from Eduardo or his wife Valtide Paulino Santos, a current city council member, went unanswered.
Junior on March 13, 2018, broadcast allegations against the husband and wife on his morning show “Hot Coffee,” which airs from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Radio Espinharas, a radio station run by the Roman Catholic diocese in Patos. Jozivan on March 13 also criticized the former official on his 6 p.m. show “Controversy,” which airs on the same station.