Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to pay damages for macho behavior and derogatory remarks directed at investigative journalist Patricia Campos Melo. A judge in São Paulo ordered the head of state to pay 20,000 riyals, or about 3,000 euros. He can still appeal against this.
Campos works for Folha DS PauloOne of the most respected Brazilian newspapers. In 2018, I wrote an article about an organization spreading false news during the election campaign to discredit the left-wing Labor Party. Partly because of these practices, the radical right-wing Bolsonaro was able to win.
The president-elect responded in early 2020 by hinting on YouTube that the journalist had tried to get a scoop on him from an employee of a digital marketing company in exchange for sexual favors. The judge saw that Bolsonaro had seriously harmed her name and honor. In January, Campos also won a legal victory over the Bolsonaro family. His son, Eduardo, Member of Parliament, was also fined 4,500 euros, for also causing moral injury.
The Brazilian Federation of Journalists published a report over a year ago with examples of 428 attacks on press freedom in the country, double what happened in 2019. The president directly linked this restriction on press freedom in 40 percent of cases.
