CPJ joined six Brazilian press freedom and advocacy organizations in a joint statement expressing concern about the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) injunction on February 28 that annulled the trial of four alleged murderers of journalist Valério Luiz de Oliveira. The statement urged the court to accept the prosecution’s motion for clarification, reverse its decision, and ensure that those accused of the journalist’s murder are held accountable.
An unidentified gunman on a motorcycle shot and killed Oliveira outside his offices at Rádio Jornal 820 AM, where he hosted a sports program, on July 5, 2012.
The injunction cancels all legal proceedings in the case after 2015, including the 2022 jury conviction of four men in Goiânia, the capital of the state of Goiás, where the journalist was murdered. Among the convicted were Maurício Borges Sampaio, a businessman and current president of Atlético Clube Goianiense, and Ademá Figueredo, a military police officer still on active duty.