Court acquits journalists who disclosed images in Odair Moniz case
The Central Criminal Investigation Court has ruled that journalists Madalena Sales and Francisca Laranjo committed no crime in disclosing images from the Odair Moniz case.
Court rules in favour of journalists in Odair Moniz case
The Central Criminal Investigation Court has acquitted several journalists who had been targeted by the Public Prosecution Service in connection with the Odair Moniz case, according to reports by Correio da Manhã. Among those targeted were two professionals from Medialivre.
The Public Prosecution Service had sought the prosecution of Madalena Sales from NOW and Francisca Laranjo from CMTV, on the grounds that both had committed the crime of disobedience by disseminating images that demonstrated there was no weapon in or on the body of Odair Moniz, a man who died following an intervention by PSP officers in Cova da Moura, in Amadora.
The court rejected this accusation and cited several reasons for its decision. Firstly, none of the journalists consulted the judicial process, which indicates that the images were obtained from sources outside the judicial circuit. Secondly, the court considered this to be a case of manifest public interest, whose repercussions were widely known, and it was relevant to establish whether the officers acted within the law or committed excesses.
The Public Prosecution Service itself had, moreover, argued throughout the proceedings that the officer who fired should be sentenced to an effective custodial sentence — a position which the court considered consistent with recognition of the public interest underlying the disclosure of the images.
The defence for Medialivre further argued that a death resulting directly from police action involving the use of physical force constitutes, in any state of law, a matter of unequivocal and qualified public interest, an argument which the court accepted in its reasoning.
Source: Correio da Manhã