The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) pinned Portugal on Tuesday, January 11 after the conviction “disproportionate» of a famous journalist who had criticized the judges for interfering «in the political sphere“and to violate”regularly judicial secrecy“.
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The 56,000 euro fine and damages imposed on Emidio Arnaldo Freitas Rangel, who died in 2014 at the age of 66 and is well known in his country, “were totally disproportionate» and had «a chilling effect on political debate“, says the Court in a press release. In addition, the Portuguese courts “failed to provide sufficient reasons for this interference with the applicant’s freedom of expression“, Continues the pan-European jurisdiction.
Heard in 2010 by a parliamentary commission on the subject of freedom of expression and the media in his country, Emidio Rangel declared in particular: “the journalistic environment has recently been taken over by the professional bodies of judges and prosecutors“. “These constitute the two centers for the dissemination of judicial information, thanks to their close links with journalists.“, he added, affirming that the magistrates “obtain documents relating to court cases for publication by journalists», «disregard of judicial secrecy“. He later made similar comments, especially to the press.
Two Portuguese organizations of magistrates, the Professional Association of Magistrates and the Professional Association of Prosecutors, separately lodged a complaint against Emidio Rangel for insulting a legal person and won their case in court. “If (Emidio Rangel) could make awkward remarks, his declarations can be interpreted as illustrating a broader social debate on the interference of justice – in the broad sense – in politics and the media, a subject of interest public», Considers the European Court. This concluded that Portugal had violated Article 10 (right to freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights. It awarded the applicant’s heirs more than 51,000 euros for material damage and for costs and expenses.