Brazil: the death of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips confirmed, wave of indignation in the country
Federal Police officers carry a coffin containing the remains of indigenous expert Bruno Pereira (Brazil) and independent reporter Dom Phillips (Britain), into the Federal Police hangar in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 16, 2022. AP - Eraldo Peres
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
The remains of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips, murdered in the Amazon last week, have been flown to Brasilia, the Brazilian capital.
The double assassination raised a wave of indignation in Brazil.
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With our correspondent in São Paulo,
Martin Bernard
After ten days of intense research, the federal police announced on Wednesday that one of the two suspects, the fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, had admitted to having buried the bodies of the two men, who had been missing since June 5 during an expedition in the Javari Amazon Valley (north-west).
At the scene, the police discovered “
remains of human bodies
” with a “
99% probability
” of belonging to the two men.
Locked in two wooden coffins, they arrived Thursday evening in Brasilia for the final identification.
Police issued a statement late Thursday about the bloodstains found on Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira's boat when he was arrested last week.
They do not correspond to the DNA of Dom Phillips and "
additional examinations
" are necessary to determine if it is that of Bruno Pereira.
Bodies of indigenous expert Bruno Pereira (Brazil) and freelance reporter Dom Phillips (Britain) are transported in a police vehicle after being discovered during the search in Atalaia do Norte, in the state of 'Amazonas (Brazil), Wednesday June 15, 2022. AP - Edmar Barros
Furthermore, "
no human DNA was detected
" in the viscera found floating in the river.
This discovery was announced by President Jair Bolsonaro during a radio interview which concluded: "
Everything suggests that they have been harmed
".
The investigation is continuing to determine the motive for the crime, the circumstances of the death apparently "
by firearm
", the exact role played by the two arrested suspects, Amarildo da Costa and his brother Oseney, and their possible accomplices.
According to the Brazilian press, three other suspects have been identified, including the alleged sponsor of the murders.
The federal police did not confirm the information but did not rule out other arrests.
Bolsonaro's condolences deemed insufficient
Jair Bolsonaro quietly offered his condolences to the families of the victims on Twitter, but the Brazilian president mostly faced an avalanche of criticism.
"
This cruel and brutal murder is concrete proof of the total absence of the Brazilian state in the Amazon and with regard to all those who give their lives to fight against deforestation
", says Ana Toni, of the Climate Institute and Society.
"
It seems
," she said, "
that the state has handed over the Amazon to militias and criminals
."
For his part, Marcio Astrini, director of the Climate Observatory, believes that “
the Bolsonaro government bears the fingerprints of this terrible tragedy
”.
► To read also:
Amazonia: Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira disappeared in "a region without faith or law"
On the political side, former President Lula also reacted.
“
It's very sad because this country is very big, this country is very civilized, and this country cannot appear to the world as if we are not civilized.
That we kill the defenders of the Amazon, that we kill the defenders of the natives, that they kill them because they defend the fight against the gold miners in native land
”
Journalist Dom Philips had challenged President Bolsonaro during a press conference, asking him how he was going to preserve the Amazon.
Jair Bolsonaro then retorted to the British journalist: “
You must first understand that the Amazon belongs to Brazil, it is not yours!
»
► To read also:
Brazil: a suspect admits to having buried the bodies of the two missing in the Amazon
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Brazil
Amazon
Jair Bolsonaro