Police investigate The Intercept Brasil editor Leandro Demori over reporting on police killings

[Judi Lynn]

June 21, 2021 5:19 PM EDT

Rio de Janeiro, June 21, 2021 – Authorities in Rio de Janeiro should immediately drop a criminal investigation into journalist Leandro Demori, and stop using the threat of criminal charges to intimidate journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On May 12, the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police Unit for Repression of Cyber Crimes (DRCI) opened a criminal slander investigation into Demori, executive editor of the independent investigative outlet The Intercept Brasil, according to news reports, police documents reviewed by CPJ, and Demori and his lawyer Rafael Borges, both of whom spoke to CPJ in phone interviews.

Borges told CPJ that the investigation stems from a May 8 Intercept Brasil newsletter by Demori, later republished on [iThe Intercept Brasil’s website], about a deadly police operation in Rio de Janeiro, as well as Demori’s Link to tweet
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If charged and convicted of slander under Article 138 of the Brazilian penal code, Demori could face a fine and six months to two years in prison.

“Authorities in Rio de Janeiro should immediately drop their investigation into The Intercept Brasil Executive Editor Leandro Demori and refrain from using police investigations to intimidate journalists,” said CPJ’s Central and South America program coordinator, Natalie Southwick, in New York. “Investigative journalists play a crucial role in documenting police abuses in Brazil, and they should be able to do so without fear of reprisal from the same security forces they are investigating.”

More:
https://cpj.org/2021/06/police-investigate-the-intercept-brasil-editor-leandro-demori-over-reporting-on-police-killings/