Mauri Konig: Forced into exile following death threats
| Publisher | Article 19 |
| Publication Date | 14 March 2013 |
| Cite as | Article 19, Mauri Konig: Forced into exile following death threats, 14 March 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5149bb082.html [accessed 28 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A leading investigative journalist was forced to flee Brazil with his family after receiving death threats in response to a report he wrote exposing police corruption.
Mauri Konig, journalist for the GAZETA DO POVO newspaper and director of the Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI) wrote the piece in May 2012, in which he revealed financial irregularities in relation to money set aside to maintain the police stations. He also revealed that vehicles designated for official business were being used for private proposes.
Konig received a series of death threats as a result of the report including a telephone call from a man who claimed to be a police officer, warning him that a group of five men, including police officers were watching him and had been instructed to kill him.
Following the phone call, Konig and his family left Brazil. In December 2012, Konig revealed that the police officers involved in the corruption scandal had been promoted. The death threats have continued.
