The German diplomat Uwe Herbert H. was arrested in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday evening in connection with the death of his Belgian husband Walter B.

The 60-year-old head of administration and vice consul at the German consulate general in Rio is suspected of murder.

Despite H.'s diplomatic immunity, an application for his release was not granted.

Tjerk Bruhwiller

Correspondent for Latin America based in São Paulo.

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The Foreign Office said it was in close contact with the Brazilian investigative authorities who were investigating the case.

For reasons of privacy protection, no further information about H. or details of the case would be released at the moment.

Police interrogation video released by media

The exact circumstances of the death are under investigation.

According to the previous findings, which have leaked to the Brazilian media, H. had alerted an emergency doctor on Saturday night because, according to him, his 52-year-old husband had fallen badly on the terrace of the shared apartment.

In a police interrogation video that was later published by individual media, H. describes in English in his apartment how he and his husband sat on the sofa that evening.

Suddenly his husband jumped up in shock and ran towards the terrace.

He tripped and fell forward on his head and face.

He tried to address his motionless partner.

Then he saw the blood and called the ambulance.

According to H.'s statements, his husband is said to have been under the influence of pills and alcohol.

According to H., the two had been a couple for 23 years.

Recently, there are said to have been arguments between the two because of a possible transfer from H.

When the emergency doctor arrived in the night, he could only determine the death of the Belgian.

Case passed to coroner

A first inventory led him to hand over the case to the coroner.

More than 30 injuries were found on B.'s body there.

The cause of death is suspected to be bleeding between the brain and neck tissue, which may have occurred as a result of head trauma from a blunt blow or impact.

When securing evidence in the apartment, traces of blood were found on the floor and on a sofa, which are said to have been removed beforehand.

The findings cast doubt on the correctness or completeness of H.'s statement.

When he wanted to pick up his husband's body on Saturday, the diplomat was arrested.

The German diplomat could be seen on television pictures being taken away by the police.

In the newspaper "O Globo" a professor of forensic medicine analyzed the autopsy report.

Accordingly, B.'s corpse is said to have a number of hematomas on various parts of the body, including on the forearms, hands and legs, which cannot all come from the fall described by H.

Some of the injuries, some of which are older, could also come from objects, according to the professor.

According to the expert, the nature and distribution of the injuries indicates sadomasochistic practices.

The chief investigator in this case also pointed to injuries in the chest area, which may have come from kicks.

She said there was a strong suspicion that B.