Newspaper headquarters attacked with Molotov cocktails in the city of Barueri, Brazil

The headquarters of the newspaper “Leia o Jornal”, located in the Brazilian southeastern city of Osasco, was supposedly attacked with Molotov cocktails. The building is also home to the owner of the newspaper, José Alcides de Oliveira. The editions of the outlet are distributed in the neighboring city of Barueri.

According to Oliveira, the assaulters were two armed men, that arrived at the scene around 23h30, from the 30th of April, escaping a few minutes after the cocktails were thrown into the headquarters´ garage. “Had I gone out to set off the fire, I would have probably been shot”, says Oliveira. The fire department and the police were called, and were able to control the fire. Two cars were destroyed, but no one was hurt.

The owner, and sole reporter of “Leia o Jornal” credits the assault to the mayor of Barueri, Rubens Furlan. According to Oliveira, the mayor is unsatisfied with accusations the journalist has been making against him and his family, especially his daughter, who is a pre-candidate for the next deputy elections.

The police official Rosângela Máximo da Silva, responsible for the case, says  Oliveira pressed charges on Wednesday afternoon, the day after the assault. The investigations were opened on April first, but the police still has no leading theory regarding the crime.

To the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, the mayor´s office claimed not to have any knowledge about the incident, and denied having made any threats to Oliveira.

The secretary of communications from the mayor´s office, Tom Moisés, said that Oliveira “Hasn´t got the slightest credibility, and his work is against the honor of the mayor and his daughter, he wants to demoralize political personalities”.

According to him, the Executive power has already taken legal measures against Oliveira due to calumny and defamation. “He wants to extort the mayor´s office in exchange of public advertisement”.