Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira: Police in Brazil accuse ex-agency bosses of misconduct in Amazon homicide case

May 20, 2023 at 6:25 PM
Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira: Police in Brazil accuse ex-agency bosses of misconduct in Amazon homicide case

Two former company officers have been indicted in Brazil in reference to the homicide of a British freelance journalist.

Police mentioned the 2 former officers didn’t act on data forward of the murders of Dom Phillips and indigenous professional Bruno Pereira.

Officers haven’t but named the 2 former officers, however state news company Agencia Brasil mentioned they have been Funai’s former president Marcelo Xavier and former vice chairman Alcir Amaral Teixeira.

According to the federal police, the 2 have been conscious on the Funai assembly in 2019 and thru different types of documentation that staff’ lives – similar to Pereira – on the company have been in danger. Police say they didn’t take the “necessary measures” to guard them, which “culminated in the double homicide.”

Mr Phillips and Mr Pereira have been final seen on their boat on the Itaquai River within the Javari Valley on 5 June 2022, the place they disappeared shortly after.

Itacoai River during the search operation for British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in 2022
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Itacoai River through the search operation for British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous professional Bruno Pereira in 2022

The area is on the Peruvian border with Brazil.

It is residence to the world’s largest indigenous communities, cocaine-smuggling gangs, unlawful looking, and fishing rackets.

After their disappearance, their our bodies have been discovered 10 days later and an post-mortem report prompt they have been killed by a “firearm and typical hunting ammunition.”

Police mentioned the murders have been deliberate by gang chief Ruben Dario da Silva Villar as a result of Pereira was finishing up
inspections of unlawful fishing operations, inflicting losses to Villar’s prison group.

Villar and three others have been charged with double murder and concealment of corpses.

Mr Phillips, who had written for The Guardian, The Washington Post and contributed to The Times

Hr was researching a e-book on the journey with Mr Pereira, a former head of remoted and just lately contacted tribes on the federal indigenous affairs company Funai.

Read extra from Sky News:
Boat used by murdered British journalist and indigenous expert found sunk with sandbags
Five suspects who helped hide bodies of British journalist and his companion in the Amazon identified

‘Quest for justice’

After Mr Phillips’s physique was found, his spouse mentioned the household may “say goodbye with love”.

She added: “Today, we also begin our quest for justice. I hope that the investigations exhaust all possibilities and bring definitive answers on all relevant details as soon as possible.”

Protests have been additionally held throughout the nation final 12 months by native residents and activists condemning the killings and criticising the federal government for reducing public assist for indigenous communities.

Relatives of British journalist Dom Phillips' wife protest following the Amazon disappearance of Mr Phillips and indigenous expert Mr Pereira
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Relatives of British journalist Dom Phillips’ spouse protest following the Amazon disappearance of Mr Phillips and indigenous professional Mr Pereira