Evany José Metzker was a Brazilian blogger and journalist who in 2015 was found decapitated.
Death
Metzker had been working on a series of stories in the
Jequitinhonha Valley
The Jequitinhonha River () flows mainly through the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Its source lies near Diamantina in the Espinhaço Mountains at an elevation of , after which it flows northward and then east-northeastward across the uplands. ...
, one of Brazil's poorest regions, when he was killed. After his body was found, investigators determined that he had been tortured, scalped, and then beheaded.
Records show that Metzker had been investigating political corruption, child prostitution, and drug dealing. On his blog, he often reported on corrupt officials and politicians. He was missing for five days before police found his body. His family said the police had received an anonymous tip as to where they could find his remains which were subsequently found near
Padre Paraíso
Padre Paraíso is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2020 was estimated to be 20,252 people living in a total area of 543 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Jequitinho ...
in
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...
.
Context
At least fourteen journalists have been killed since 2011 in retaliation for their work. Brazil is the third most dangerous country for journalists in Latin America after Mexico and Colombia.
Other journalists were killed around the same time as Metzker.
Reactions
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
and
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
, an international NGO, released official statements in response to the murder,
as did the Minas Gerais Journalists Union, a regional organization.
See also
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Human rights in Brazil
Human rights in Brazil include the right to life and freedom of speech; and condemnation of slavery and torture. The nation ratified the American Convention on Human Rights. The 2017 Freedom in the World report by Freedom House gives Brazil a sc ...
*
Edinaldo Filgueira
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Décio Sá Décio Sá (ca. 1970 – April 23, 2012) was a Brazilian political journalist for ''O Estado do Maranhão'' and a blogger for ''Blog do Décio'' and at one time worked for ''Folha de S. Paulo''. He was gunned down in a bar in São Luís, Maranhão, ...
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Marcos de Barros Leopoldo Guerra
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Orislandio Timóteo Araújo
*
Ítalo Eduardo Diniz Barros
Ítalo Eduardo Diniz Barros, (ca. 1985 – November 13, 2015), a Brazilian press officer who was employed by Mayor Marcel Curio in Governador Nunes Freire, Oeste Maranhense, Maranhão state, Northeast Region, Brazil, was known for blogging o ...
References
2015 deaths
Assassinated Brazilian journalists
Murdered journalists
20th-century Brazilian journalists
21st-century Brazilian journalists
Year of birth missing
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