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Portuguese journalist vindicated by rights court seven years after death

Journalist Emídio Rangel made critical remarks about the close relationship some judges and prosecutors had with members of the Portuguese media, leading to more than $60,000 in fines after he was convicted of defamation.

STRASBOURG, France (CN) — Seven years after his death, Europe’s top rights court sided Tuesday with famed-Portuguese journalist Emídio Rangel over critical comments about his country’s judges and prosecutors. 

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that statements Rangel made to Portugal's parliament in 2010, accusing judges and prosecutors of planting stories and buying off journalists, were within his free speech rights and the 56,000 euros ($63,000) he was forced to pay likely had a chilling effect on freedom of expression in the country. 

Rangel, who began his career in radio, including working for the BBC, before moving to television, died of bladder cancer in 2014. His daughters continued the case before the Strasbourg-based court. 

Prosecutors and judges “obtain documents concerning judicial cases for journalists to publish, exchange these documents at cafés, in the open; … breach[ing] the duty of judicial confidentiality,” Rangel told a 2010 meeting of the Parliamentary Ethics Committee before the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic.

Both the Professional Association of Judges and the Professional Association of Public Prosecutors filed complaints against Rangel for defamation. In 2012, a court in Lisbon found him guilty of “insulting a legal entity,” a conviction that would ultimately be upheld by the Portuguese Supreme Court. 

A seven-judge panel of the human rights court found Tuesday that while the wording of his statements may have been “unfortunate,” his comments were protected political speech. The court was created by the 1953 European Convention of Human Rights, which protects the civil liberties and human rights of those living in Europe. 

The court found that the substantial fine - the Portuguese Supreme Court ultimately ordered Rangel to pay 25,000 euros ($28,000) to each organization, plus a 6,000 euro ($6,800) fine - would likely have a chilling effect on free speech in the country. Before his death, Rangel had paid the fine and the full amount to the Professional Association of Judges but had only partially paid the amount to the prosecutors' group, which has been trying to get the remainder from his estate. 

“The domestic courts failed to provide relevant and sufficient reasons to justify the interference with the applicant’s right to freedom of expression,” the ruling states.

Portugal was ordered to pay Rangel’s estate 51,374.23 euros ($58,000) for damages and expenses. 

The southern European country has long been criticized for corruption in its judicial system. It’s been criticized by international bodies, including the Council of Europe, for being slow and opaque and for failing to prosecute corruption cases. The country’s former prime minister José Sócrates was arrested in 2014 on charges of bribery and money laundering, a case which is still ongoing. In 2021, a judge dropped the more serious charges, leading to widespread public outrage. 

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Categories / Civil Rights, Government, International, Media

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