Former mayor receives prison sentence for journalist’s murder

UPDATE 
August 10, 2007
Original case: April 20, 2004

Samuel Romã, Radio Conquista FM

KILLED

Eurico Mariano, former mayor of Coronel Sapucaia in the southwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul, was sentenced to 17 years and nine months in prison for hiring the gunmen who in 2004 shot Romã, a host and owner of Radio Conquista FM, based in the Paraguayan town of Capitán Bado just across the Brazilian border.

Judge César de Souza Lima stated in his verdict that Mariano hired a third party to shoot the journalist, who used his talk show “A Voz do Povo” (“The Voice of the People”) to express his political views. Romã had been particularly vocal during the year of his death, according to the judge’s verdict. Souza Lima concluded that the former mayor ordered Romã’s murder in order to silence his commentary.

On April 20, 2004, four gunmen on two motorcycles shot Romã, 36, outside his home in Coronel Sapucaia around 6 p.m. Police took the journalist to the municipal hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Romã was also a political activist.