ABI: 'Censorship of news reports about the Bolsonaro family's real estate purchases is unconstitutional'

247 - The Brazilian Press Association (ABI), through its Committee for the Defense of Freedom of the Press and Human Rights, stated this Friday (23) that it is "unconstitutional" Censorship ordered by the Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories (TJDFT) against the Uol portal. so that articles about the subject can be taken off the air. Purchase of real estate with cash by the Bolsonaro clanThe association stated that "Judge Demetrius Gomes Cavalcanti started from false premises, probably misled by the senator's defense." 

"At no point did Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) prove the legality of the money used or even that the data presented by the Public Prosecutor's Office was incorrect," he added.

Read the full note: 

The Brazilian Press Association (ABI), through its Commission for the Defense of Freedom of the Press and Human Rights, considers unacceptable the censorship being imposed on the UOL news portal by the judge of the Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories (TJDFT), Demetrius Gomes Cavalcanti. Responding to a request from Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), the judge ordered the removal from the air of UOL articles about the purchase of real estate with cash by the Bolsonaro clan. Half of the Bolsonaro clan's assets were acquired with cash., authored by reporters Thiago Herdy and Juliana Dal Piva.

Censorship, as numerous decisions by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) have made clear, is unconstitutional, even when judicially mandated. As an example, it's worth recalling the famous phrase by Justice Carmen Lúcia: "The gag order is dead."

By censoring a news report that, due to its merits, received wide dissemination and praise from various sectors of Brazilian society, the judge not only contradicted decisions of the Supreme Federal Court. More seriously, he proceeded from false premises, probably misled by the senator's defense.

Among various documents, the journalistic work also reported the data contained in the complaint filed by the Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor's Office, which accused Flávio Bolsonaro of embezzling R$ 6,1 million, and pointed out that the senator laundered money from the "rachadinha" scheme to purchase real estate, pay personal expenses, taxes, etc.

It is true that this accusation was overturned by the Superior Court of Justice (STF), but this was due to the way the first instance judge authorized the Public Prosecutor's Office to access the data. The ministers did not discuss the origin of the money. At no point did Senator Flávio Bolsonaro prove the legality of the money used or even that the data presented by the Public Prosecutor's Office was incorrect.

Several news outlets also published data from the complaint over the course of two years and were not censored previously. The fact that the Judiciary overturned the decision does not mean that the right to information ceases, especially in the case of accurate information of public interest.

In this sense, the judge's decision to censor the news should be reviewed immediately, either on his own initiative or by higher courts. It is necessary to uphold the constitutional principle that freedom of the press is a right of all society.

Rio de Janeiro, September 23 of 2022

Committee for the Defense of Freedom of the Press and Human Rights

Brazilian Press Association

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