Abraji urges investigation on killing of Brazilian journalist

Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism (Abraji) urges the state authorities to investigate the murder of the journalist Décio Sá. He was shot six times while having dinner in a restaurant in São Luiz, the capital of the state of Maranhão, in the Northeast of Brazil, last Monday evening, 23. He was the fourth journalist killed in Brazil in 2012.

Décio Sá had worked for the newspaper "O Estado do Maranhão", owned by the family of José Sarney, president of the Federal Senate, and ran a blog about politics. He had a wife and an eight-year-old son. 

Abraji is concerned with the increasing violence against journalists in Brazil. The association requests the case to be solved quickly. Besides leading to punishing the killers, the investigation must clarify the motivation for the crime and whether it is related to the journalism practice or not. Crimes aimed to silence journalists are a serious attack to freedom of expression. 

According to International News Safety Institute (INSI), Brazil was the 8th most dangerous country for journalists in 2011. The country now occupies the second position in the 2012 ranking.

In the latest Impunity Index organized by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), released this month, Brazil is the 11th country with the worst rates of impunity in crimes against journalists. 

Last March, Brazilian government decided not to support the approval of a plan discussed since september 2011 by UN aimed to protect journalists around the world. Because of the Brazilian move, in consonance with India, Pakistan, Cuba and Venezuela, the plan will not be approved until the next Unesco meeting, in 2013.