24 July 2006
Ajuricaba Monassa de Paula
Beating
Ajuricaba Monassa de Paula, a 73-year-old freelance journalist and member of the local opposition, was beaten to death in public in Guapirimim (in Rio de Janeiro state) on 24 July by a municipal councillor he had criticised.
Monassa was affiliated to the Brazilian Press Association (ABI). The attack took place when Monassa was on a central square in the town of Guapirimim having a argument with a close relative of Osvaldo Vivas, a municipal councillor he had accused of questionable administrative practices.
A martial arts black belt, Vivas himself then intervened and began hitting Monassa until he collapsed. He was rushed to the intensive care unit of a nearby hospital where he died of his injuries.
