The Minister of the Social Communication Secretariat (Secom) of the Presidency of the Republic, Paulo Pimenta, met with representatives of Brazilian journalist organizations and press professionals at the Planalto Palace, in Brasília, this Monday (9), a day after the undemocratic acts that resulted in the depredation of public buildings at Praça dos Três Poderes, in Brasília. The meeting was held in the midst of several reports of attacks on the press registered during violent acts in the capital. 
According to the Union of Professional Journalists of the Federal District (SJPDF), in a balance sheet updated earlier this evening, reports were reported of 14 press professionals attacked in coup acts. At least two of them report having requested help from the Military Police of the Federal District and did not receive any support. A professional reported that one of the police officers even pointed a rifle at her.
Approach
“Reports from colleagues show that the terrorists were instructed on how to identify us and how to approach us, with a requirement to erase or confiscate material. There was a pattern of approach, including the way of threatening. And a second thing that we identified was the participation of military police in embarrassing their colleagues, who were not welcomed or protected by the security agents, even under threat from the extremists”, said Juliana Cézar Nunes, general coordinator of the SJPDF, who participated in the meeting with Pimenta.
According to the union leader, the entities present asked the government to study the federalization of crimes against journalists and communicators, in addition to, in the short term, determining the identification and punishment of all those responsible for attacks against press professionals. Now under the intervention of the federal government, the Public Security of the DF will be activated to open a listening channel to communicators victims of violence
“Despite the fact that in all union meetings with the Public Security area of the DF, press professionals were left unprotected. That is why many colleagues are afraid to file a police report after these events”, revealed Nunes.
In addition to the Union of Professional Journalists of the Federal District, the meeting was attended by representatives of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), the National Federation of Journalists (Fenaj), the organization Reporters without Borders, and other press professionals, including the former president of Brazil Communications Company (EBC), Tereza Cruvinel, who was kicked and shoved by scammers on the Esplanada dos Ministérios.
Minister Paulo Pimenta stated that “the federal government is concerned with publicly demonstrating solidarity with communication professionals and confirming the commitment to freedom in the exercise of journalistic work. Our desire is, within the various initiatives that are being adopted, to make a special chapter regarding journalists”.
other measurements
During the meeting, the entities also agreed on the need to establish a dialogue with employers to charge and warn about the need to adopt risk-mitigating security measures. Yesterday, while covering the violent acts of vandalism, many journalists were alone.
It was also requested, as a medium-term measure, support from the Brazilian government for the proposal of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) to create a United Nations (UN) convention specifically for the safety of journalists, in addition to the creation of the National Observatory of Violence against Journalists.
