Brazilian police on Tuesday arrested a manager of a Carrefour supermarket in Porto Alegre (south) as an alleged "co-perpetrator" in the murder of a black man, beaten on November 19 by two white guards of the store.
A death that caused a stir in the country.
“She had authority over the two supervisors.
Because of her position, the law considers her as a co-perpetrator of the murder.
His pre-trial detention has been requested, ”a police investigator, Vanessa Pitrez, quoted by the UOL news portal said at a press conference.
According to a shocking video released by the media, the supervisor appeared alongside the two supervisors when they attacked Joao Batista Rodrigues Freitas in the Carrefour parking lot, where he was beaten to death.
The two guards were imprisoned.
" Help me "
The woman, who had been seen filming the scene, allegedly lied to investigators during her first interrogation, claiming not to have heard the victim call for help and claiming that one of the guards was a police client of the supermarket, to hide the fact that he was employed by Carrefour.
“Help me,” the victim can be heard saying in the video, as the supervisor stands a few steps away.
"It hurts, I'm going to die," said the 40-year-old man, who died the day before Black Consciousness Day, celebrated across much of Brazil.
The manager, according to extracts from her testimony broadcast on the Globo channel, assured that she had repeatedly asked the guards to release the man.
However, in some clips of the video, he is heard warning him that he must calm down if he wants to be released or telling him that he will not be released until the police arrive.
Anti-racist demonstrations and clashes
This homicide provoked anti-racist demonstrations in several cities in Brazil.
On Monday, a march in Porto Alegre degenerated into clashes between a group of protesters and the police, outside a branch of the French supermarket chain Carrefour.
Last night João Alberto Silveira Freitas, a Black man, was beaten to death by security guards.
In several cities across Brazil, Brazilians protested at the Carrefour supermarkets.
Today is also Black Consciousness day in Brazil.
The photos below are from the protest in Rio.
pic.twitter.com/pzSz92mFIE
- Kiratiana (@Kiratiana) November 20, 2020
After seeing its shares plummet on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange on Monday, Carrefour announced the creation of a fund of 25 million reals (or about 4.8 million dollars or 4 million euros) to promote shares against racism in Brazil.
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At the same time, 12 Carrefour suppliers - including giants such as Coca Cola, Danone, Pepsico, Heineken, Kellogg's, L'Oréal or even Nestlé - announced that they were joining together to take initiatives "to combat racism. structural 'in the country, which was the last in the Americas to abolish slavery in 1888.
