New York, August 7, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder on Thursday of Brazilian radio journalist Gleydson Carvalho in the municipality of Camocim in the northeastern state of Ceará and calls on authorities to bring the killers to justice. Carvalho was presenting a program on Radio Liberdade FM when two unidentified gunmen entered the station’s offices during a musical interlude and shot him, according to news reports. He died while en route to a hospital, the reports said. The journalist had frequently criticized local politicians and repeatedly received death threats on his Facebook page, news reports said.
“Violence against the press in Brazil had already reached unacceptable levels. Now we are stunned by the brazen murder of Gleydson Carvalho in the middle of his radio show,” said Sara Rafsky, CPJ’s Americas research associate. “Authorities must take action to combat a press freedom crisis that is violating the right of all Brazilians to be informed, not to mention ending journalists’ lives.”
CPJ has documented a sharp increase in lethal, anti-press violence in Brazil in recent years. Three other journalists have been killed this year in direct retaliation for their work, including two who were killed and tortured in a one-week period in May. None of their cases have been resolved. At least 16 journalists have been killed in direct retaliation for their work since 2011, CPJ research shows.
- For data and analysis on Brazil, visit CPJ’s Brazil page.