The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has denied consecutive requests made by several national authorities to reveal information contained in the “Panama Papers.”
One last example was the formal request of the Portuguese tax authority sent to the international consortium of investigative journalists. They asked information about the names of all the Portuguese citizens mentioned in the Panama Papers.
As with similar requests made by other state authorities, the answer came back negative.
“We are an independent organization of journalists. We can not, and should not provide the documents because they do not belong to us and, furthermore, we are not the armed arm of the State. We are investigative journalists.”
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists answers to the Portuguese tax authority
Rui Araújo, one of the two Portuguese journalists participating in the investigation told the Portuguese television channel TVI he also received a call from the tax authority president, Helena Maria Jose Alves Borges in order to reveal any information. He refused to reveal any information he may have at his disposal from the ongoing international investigation journalist investigation.
Rui Araujo is one of the two Portuguese journalists participating in the “Panama papers” investigation. He’s an award-winning reporter who has covered wars in various places such as Angola, Bosnia, Croatia, Libya or East Timor.