The suspect admits that he was involved in the murder of a British journalist and an indigenous expert. He led investigators to his “human remains”.
The evidence of crime is growing in the case of the missing British journalist in the Brazilian Amazon and of an indigenous expert who has also disappeared. One of the detained suspects admitted to being involved in the murder of the two, as reported by the Federal Police at a press conference in the Amazon metropolis of Manaus on Wednesday night (local time). The suspect led the police to “human remains”.
These will now be examined. The place was, therefore, a good three kilometers from where the personal belongings of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira were found. The motive for the alleged crime was not initially clear.
“While we are still awaiting final confirmations, this tragic outcome ends our fears and anxieties of not knowing where Dom and Bruno are,” wrote Alessandra Sampaio, wife of Dom Philipps, in a statement. “Now we can take you home and say goodbye with love.” The quest for justice begins. The Indigenous Association of Vale do Javari lamented the “inestimable loss” of “two members”. It was mainly the indigenous people of the region who led the search for the disappeared from the beginning.
unclear reason
The motive for the alleged crime was not initially clear. Regional media speculated that Phillips and Pereira may have been the victims of an ambush on behalf of drug traffickers. Another line of investigation looks at the connection between illegal fishing and hunting.
Phillips and Pereira did not arrive by boat in the town of Atalaia do Norte on June 5 as planned, according to a regional Aboriginal organization. Pereira had previously reported to the police that he had been threatened several times. He had registered illegal activities in Vale do Javari for the authorities.
According to the media, a good week after the disappearance of the men, personal objects belonging to them were found. A second suspect was arrested on Wednesday. He is a fisherman and the brother of the only suspect arrested so far.
Covering an area slightly larger than Austria, Vale do Javari is one of the largest indigenous areas in Brazil. Many indigenous people live in isolation there. The border area with Peru and Colombia is also particularly conflicted and dangerous due to illegal gold prospecting, deforestation, illegal hunting and fishing, as well as drug smuggling.
Brazil in a situation bordering on the “barbaric”.
“All this has taken on gigantic proportions with the government’s systematic weakening of indigenous and environmental authorities and the federal police,” said a Brazilian television report on why the Javari Valley has become one of the most dangerous areas in the Amazon. “Brazil is in a situation that borders on barbarism and this scenario cannot go any further,” tweeted Greenpeace Brazil.
According to the non-governmental organization Global Witness, the country was the fourth most dangerous country for environmentalists in 2020, with 20 conservationists and environmental activists killed. Among the victims in recent years were US environmentalist Dorothy Stang and activist Paulo Paulino Guajajara, known as the “guardian of the forest”.
(APA/DPA)