The College of Sports Journalists (CNID) welcomed the decision of the Guimarães Court, known on Tuesday, to convict Pedro Pinho of assaulting TVI journalist Francisco Ferreira, camera operator for that television station.
The attack that occurred outside the stadium and after the Moreirense-FC Porto match, played in April 2021, led to the conviction of the businessman to two years in prison, with a suspended sentencefor a public crime, since the journalist was on professional duty.
According to the CNID, “the crimes of harm with violence and attack on freedom of information were proven, which led the court to sentence the businessman to also pay compensation to the journalist worth seven thousand euros and another 1,540 euros for property” . damage.” ”, of which Francisco Ferreira intends to donate a part to the Portuguese Association for Attention to Victims (APAV).
The Union of Journalists (SJ) also expressed its opinion on the outcome of the process, indicating that Pedro Pinho will be obliged to pay compensation to Francisco Ferreira, and the journalist announced that he will donate part of the amount to the Portuguese Association. Victim Assistance (APAV).
The case was documented on video, but even so, the businessman did not show remorse, in the assessment made by the court, with the sentence signed by Judge Silva Lopes, of the Judicial Court of the District of Braga.
“It is a condemnation that deserves our praise and that we hope will have the right effects for the future, that is, to discourage once and for all attacks against journalists, which are always unacceptable, misplaced and criminal. The businessman can appeal, but the truth is that a court has already ruled and vehemently condemned his conduct, ”the CNID wrote in its statement.
The representative association of journalists in the Sports area also praised the position of journalist Francisco Ferreira, who “never hesitated and went to the end of the process, on his own behalf and on behalf of a journalistic class that cannot stop denouncing these cases and procure the just punishment, so that they do not repeat themselves”.
The SJ recalls that aggression against journalists has been a public crime since 2018, when the reform of article 132 of the Criminal Code defined that an act committed against journalists was “susceptible of revealing special censorship or perversity” and that freedom “is an asset that must be protected and preserved and that is duly enshrined in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic (article 38) and in the Press Law”.
“The SJ understands that it is also up to journalists to ensure the protection and defense of journalism and freedom of the press, denouncing cases in which they feel ashamed, harassed, threatened or attacked,” he stressed.
Source: Observadora
