The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) will create a forum to monitor press freedom violations and judicial harassment against journalists and press professionals. The measure will be adopted through the Regional Attorney for Citizens’ Rights in Rio de Janeiro (PRDC-RJ). Through the forum, technical notes and proposals will be prepared to deal with the issue within the scope of the justice system.
The Brazilian Press Association (ABI) must indicate up to 10 representatives to participate in the debates. In addition, a deadline was opened for civil society contributions with suggestions for action and technical subsidies. The first forum meeting is scheduled for the first week of March and will be held virtually.
Since 2020, PRDC-RJ has been investigating allegations of judicial harassment against writer and filmmaker João Paulo Cuenca. There are suspicions that pastors of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God are inappropriately using the judiciary in order to embarrass the professional. The case has been investigated in a public civil investigation opened after complaints filed by the ABI.
Last month, a public hearing conducted by PRDC-RJ to discuss the case also opened space for the exposure of other episodes that would involve persecution as a result of the publication of opinions and reports. The event mobilized journalists and representatives of various entities.
João Paulo Cuenca is the author of chronicles published in various press vehicles in the country, such as the newspapers The globe and Folha de S.Paulo and the portals The Intercept Brazil and Deutsche Welle Brazil. He also signs several books, including the novel I found out I was deadwinner of the National Library Literary Award in 2017.
In 2020, a post published on his Twitter account made him the target of criticism. “The Brazilian will only be free when the last Bolsonaro is hanged in the guts of the last pastor of the Universal Church”, he wrote. Faced with the reaction of a large volume of users, Cuenca deleted the message and justified himself by saying that his intention was not to incite the hate, but rather make an ironic comment paraphrasing Jean Meslier. The French author wrote, in the 18th century, that “man will only be free when the last king is hanged in the guts of the last priest”.
Working at the time for the Deutsche Welle Brazil, Cuenca had his contract terminated. In addition, it became the target of more than 100 lawsuits, distributed in different states. A judge at the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice (TJRJ) even determined the suspension of his Twitter account in 2020, but he managed to reverse the court order.
The writer has already obtained favorable decisions. In one of them, Judge Isabelle Sacramento Torturela, of the Court of Justice of Acre (TJAC), ordered the filing of a lawsuit filed by a pastor. Although she considered the post to be in bad taste, she pointed out that its text is generic and that there was no direct offense. Citing other similar judicial decisions, the magistrate understood that there is no moral damage since the posts were not addressed individually to the pastor.
According to Cuenca’s defense, among the various actions, there are equal requests and excerpts that suggest they were produced from a model. They would be evidence of a corporate articulation against freedom of expression. Lawyers suspect that there is coordination by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. They consider that the hypothesis is reinforced since many lawsuits ended up being archived due to the abandonment of the cause by the plaintiffs.
wanted by Brazil Agencythe Universal Church of the Kingdom of God did not manifest itself.
