The decapitated body of Brazilian journalist Evany José Metzker was found on Monday, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
After an anonymous phone call police found Metzker’s body in a ditch outside the town of Padre Paraíso in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais.
His head was found 100 metres away from the rest of his body. He was half naked and his hands were tied behind his back, reported the daily O Globo. He still had his wallet, watch and ring.
Metzker, 67, wrote a blog called Coruja Do Vale, in which he focused on political news and corruption in the impoverished north and eastern parts of Minas Gerais, one of Brazil’s biggest states.
His wife, Hilma Chaves Silva Borges, said Metzker was working on an investigation “ in a region that is very dangerous”, but gave no details.
She said: “I think that the motive, given the barbarity of his murder, was because he hit on something. He investigated mayors, politicians, cargo robberies, prostitution”.
According to some local news reports (example here), Metzker had been investigating a child prostitution ring.
Independent bloggers in Brazil’s provincial capitals and towns who cover crime and corruption are particularly at risk, according to CPJ research.
“We condemn the brutal murder of Evany José Metzker and urge Brazilian authorities to leave no stone unturned in investigating this crime and all possible motives,” said Carlos Lauría, CPJ’s Americas senior programme coordinator.
“The ability of local journalists to report the news is clearly being undermined by deadly violence against the Brazilian press”.
Source: CPJ
