Press groups decry police action against reporter's source

Brazilian press associations have voiced profound concern following a police operation that targeted an anonymous source cited in a report about the misuse of official vehicles by Minister Flávio Dino.

The joint statement, signed by the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Abert), the National Association of Newspapers (ANJ), and the National Association of Magazine Publishers (Aner), condemned the judicial actions that breached source confidentiality.

“

Judicial actions that break source confidentiality have no constitutional basis and set precedents that threaten freedom of the press, protected by the 1988 Constitution.

"Judicial actions that break source confidentiality have no constitutional basis and set precedents that threaten freedom of the press, protected by the 1988 Constitution," the statement read. The associations reiterated that the constitution explicitly grants journalists the right to protect their sources. They emphasized that challenges to reports should be handled within the legal framework, which includes provisions for the right of reply and compensation.

"The violation of the confidentiality of professionals and their sources leads to intimidation against the press that is incompatible with the Democratic State of Law and the free exercise of journalism," the note concluded. The operation, authorized by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, involved searches and seizures against Raimundo Cutrim, a former secretary in the Maranhão government, who was identified as the source for a report by journalist Luís Pablo Conceição Almeida. The searches followed the Federal Police's discovery of information on the journalist's cell phone.

“

The violation of the confidentiality of professionals and their sources leads to intimidation against the press that is incompatible with the Democratic State of Law and the free exercise of journalism.