It’s been days since a journalist was last murdered because of their job. name was .
Investigating the killing of Pedro Palma
Our new report into the murder of Pedro Palma finds that the official investigation suffered from undue and excessive delays, a lack of transparency and violations of the chain of custody.
ENGLISH: The full investigation, in English, can be downloaded here. PORTUGUÊS DO BRAZIL: A investigação completa, em português, pode ser baixada aqui.
Pedro Palma was editor-in-chief of the local weekly newspaper, Panorama Regional, which frequently reported on corruption in the municipal government of Miguel Pereira in Brazil. Because of his work, he was shot in front of his house on 13 February 2014. As of yet, no-one has been prosecuted for his murder.
Our investigation reveals several mistakes made during the official investigation since 2014. First, the official investigation has been excessively and unnecessarily delayed. Second, there has been a major lack of transparency, preventing the family and their legal representative from accessing case files and hampering public scrutiny. Furthermore, key pieces of evidence, such as cell phone data, were lost during the official investigation. This demonstrates how the delays and secrecy in the official investigation have undermined the possibility to analyze crucial evidence, and how an effective and fair investigation did not materialize.
This report recommends to transfer the investigation to the Baixada Fluminense Homicide Police Division. Furthermore, it recommends to create an ad hoc specialized police team that can act promptly and efficiently in cases of murdered journalists.
Pedro Palma was a journalist. He was killed because of it. Now we are chasing Opportunities for Justice.
The full investigation and its recommendations can be downloaded here.
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