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Supermarket in Porto Alegre (November 2020): Protests after the fatal attack on João Alberto Silveira Freitas
Photo: RICARDO MORAES / REUTERS
In Brazil, six suspects have been charged with a deadly attack by white supermarket security guards on a black man less than three weeks later.
In addition to two security guards, murder charges were brought against four other employees of the supermarket, said the head of the criminal police in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Nadine Anflor, on Friday, according to a report by the news portal G1.
These employees are said to have prevented the victim from being helped.
João Alberto Silveira Freitas was beaten and brutally beaten by two security guards on November 19 in front of a Carrefour supermarket in Porto Alegre in the south of the country.
Previously, the 40-year-old had a verbal argument with an employee of the supermarket.
He died of his injuries on the scene.
After the fatal attack, Carrefour said it regretted the incident and wanted to support the victim's family.
The chain announced that it would terminate the contract with the security company, suspend the store manager and temporarily close the supermarket.
According to the police, one of the suspects is an off-duty military police officer.
According to the G1, there were no charges of racism, but there was talk of "structural racism" in connection with the case.
The act of violence is reminiscent of the case of George Floyd in the United States and sparked a debate about racism in the largest country in Latin America.
In the days that followed, numerous people took to the streets under the motto »Count black lives«.
UN Human Rights Commissioner Michele Bachelet called on Brazil to take decisive action against racism.
Brazil was the last country in the western world to abolish slavery.
To date, there are great inequalities between the white and black population, who make up 56 percent of the total population.
On average, black Brazilians only earn half as much as white Brazilians.
They also have a shorter life expectancy and, according to human rights activists, are repeatedly victims of discrimination.
The right-wing populist President Jair Bolsonaro repeatedly expressed himself racist.
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wit / dpa