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Murders in the Amazon: a third suspect surrenders

2022-06-18T16:34:22.138Z


A third suspect in the murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in the Brazilian Amazon has...


A third suspect in the murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in the Brazilian Amazon surrendered on Saturday morning, the Brazilian Federal Police said.

Read alsoMurders in the Amazon: the remains of journalist Dom Phillips formally identified

The day before, the federal police had announced that the human remains discovered on the indication of a suspect were indeed those of the British journalist Dom Phillips, killed with the Brazilian expert Bruno Pereira during an expedition as part of a book on the preservation of the environment.

"

This confirmation was possible thanks to an odontological examination

" (dental, in particular, editor's note) of the samples which were analyzed in a laboratory in Brasilia, the police said in a press release.

Comprehensive identification work continues, to better understand the cause of death, the dynamics of the crime and the concealment of the corpses

,” she added.

Read alsoMurders in the Amazon: the remains of journalist Dom Phillips formally identified

After two suspects arrested on June 7 and Tuesday, a third man, under the scope of an arrest warrant, surrendered.

This is Jeferson da Silva Lima, known as "

Pelado da Dinha

".

According to all the evidence and testimonies collected, this fisherman "

was at the scene of the crime and actively participated in the double homicide

", said police commissioner Alex Perez Timóteo.

The remains of Dom Phillips were found on Wednesday at the place indicated by the fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, known as "

Pelado

", who had admitted the day before having buried the bodies.

Nothing has yet been announced about the other human remains, especially if they are those of Bruno Pereira.

According to local media, the police are looking for a fourth suspect, information that has not been officially confirmed.

The police indicated that the elements available to them at this stage of the investigation suggested "

that the killers acted alone, without a sponsor, without a criminal organization behind the murders

".

The Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley (Univaja), whose members actively participated in the research, refuted the police version.

"

There are not just two killers, but an organized group that planned the crime down to the smallest detail

," Univaja said in a statement.

Dom Phillips, 57, a long-time contributor to

The Guardian

newspaper , and Bruno Pereira, 41, a recognized indigenous peoples expert, were last seen on June 5 as they took a boat to Atalaia do Norte (north-west), in the Javari valley, reputed to be dangerous due to multiple illegal drug trafficking, fishing and gold panning.

Criminal organization

Univaja claims to have sent the authorities a report in which it explained that "

Pelado

" was involved in illegal fishing activities.

This 41-year-old man had also been accused of having committed "

firearm attacks in 2018 and 2019 against a base of Funai

", the Brazilian government agency for indigenous affairs, in the same city of 'Atalaia do Norte.

Univaja evokes "

a powerful criminal organization which tried at all costs to erase its traces during the investigation

" on the double murder, recalling that Bruno Pereira, who worked for a long time at Funai, had already done the object of "

death threats

".

According to several experts, the illegal fishing of endangered species in the Javari Valley is, most often, under the control of drug traffickers who use the sale of fish to launder drug money.

We demand the continuation and deepening of the investigations

,” insisted the Univaja.

The Javari Valley, the second largest indigenous reserve in Brazil, where 26 indigenous peoples live, is a region that is difficult to access, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, on the triple border between Brazil, Peru and Colombia, where the State has very little influence.

Many members of the security forces left the scene after the remains of the victims were discovered.

And the natives who took part in the research now say they fear for their lives.

We are going to continue to live here, and the state is not going to provide them with any security

,” said Paulo Marubo, coordinator of Univaja, to AFP, who said he too had received threats.

The double murder of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira has sparked outrage around the world, with strong criticism of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro accused of promoting deforestation and encouraging resource exploitation in the Amazon since his coming to power in 2019.

Read alsoBrazil: a suspect says he buried the bodies of the two missing in the Amazon

The United States on Friday urged accountability for the murder of the two men, "

murdered for their support for the preservation of the rainforest and indigenous peoples

".

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-06-18

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