Two bloggers banned from criticising politician accused of embezzlement

Two bloggers in the southwestern state of Mato Grosso, economist Adriana Vandoni and lawyer Enock Cavalcanti, were ordered by judge Pedro Sakamoto on 10 November to withdraw all comments from their blogs (www.prosaepolitica.com.br and paginadoenock.com.br) that were “offensive” to José Riva, the president of the Mato Grosso legislative assembly. The judge also told them they could be fined up to 1,000 reais (390 euros) a day if they posted any new criticism of Riva. Riva is nonetheless a politician who is worthy of comment. The head of a major financial empire and regarded as one of the most powerful people in the state, he is currently the target of more than 100 lawsuits for alleged embezzlement and 17 other actions for alleged criminal association. “This is a serious violation of free expression as the two bloggers just voiced their opinions, which is not a crime,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Preventive censorship violates the principles of the 1988 democratic constitution. We urge the federal authorities to take a position on this matter and to put a stop to such unacceptable forms of harassment by politicians, even those that support the government.” This kind of censorship above all affects cities in the interior of the country, where there are fewer and less powerful newspapers and where the Internet is one of the few public arenas where people can express their views freely, or at least try to. Court censorship is an effective method of financial pressure, as it is costly for defendants to hire a lawyer in order to appeal. Time passes and the censorship remains. This case recalls the preventive censorship to which the O Estado de São Paulo daily has been subject since 31 July, when it was forbidden to publish any reports about alleged corruption cases involving Fernando Sarney, a businessman who is the son of former President José Sarney, the current senate speaker. In a press release on 5 October, Reporters Without Borders condemned the case’s transfer to a court in Maranhão state, whose governor is Fernando Sarney’s sister. This preventive censorship measure has been in force for 118 days without anyone in the government making any comment about it.