SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 28 March 2024, Thursday |

Brazil police identify five more suspects in murder of British journalist

Brazilian federal police claimed on Sunday that five more suspects assisted in the concealment of the remains of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, after arresting three individuals for their murders in the Amazon rainforest.

The new suspects have not been named by the police, who said in a brief statement that ongoing investigations are aimed at “clarifying all the facts, reasons, and those engaged in the case.”

So far, Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, a fisherman who police say confessed to killing the two victims, his brother, Oseney da Costa, and a third man, Jeferson da Silva Lima, have been arrested.

Phillips, a freelance reporter who had written for the Guardian and the Washington Post, was doing research for a book on the trip with Pereira, a former head of isolated and recently contacted tribes at federal indigenous affairs agency Funai.

They were reported missing on June 5 after traveling together by boat through the Javari Valley, a remote region bordering Peru and Colombia. According to police, both were shot with hunting ammunition.

Shock at their fate has echoed across Brazil and around the world, highlighting the overhaul of indigenous agency Funai under President Jair Bolsonaro, along with a rising tide of violence and criminal incursions on native lands.

    Source:
  • Reuters