Brazil: Supreme Court overturns conviction of landowner for murder of Sr. Dorothy Stang. >>Retrial
On 15 May 2013, Brazil’s Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Mr Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura, also known as Bida, who is accused of ordering the 2005 murder of nun and defender of the Amazon, Sr. Dorothy Stang.
The Supreme Court decided, by three votes against two, that Vitalmiro’s lawyer had not been given enough time to prepare his defence. It ordered his retrial at a yet to be scheduled date, until which point the accused will remain in prison.
This ruling relates to the situation in the previous trial where after Vitalmiro's lawyer failed to appear at his trial in March 2010, he was appointed a public defender and had his trial rescheduled for the 12 April 2010. Vitalmiro was convicted in that trial and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
In 2010 Mr Regivaldo Galvão was also convicted for his part in ordering Dorothy Stang’s murder and sentenced to a 30-year jail term. In 2012, the Supreme Court ordered his release, saying he had the right to remain free pending the outcome of his appeal process.
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http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/22752
(2006)
There is special concern about the situation in Maranhão, in northeast Brazil, where quilombo communities receive constant threats from local landowners. The authorities have promised to protect community leaders living under death threats, but nothing has been done, according to the human rights watchdog.
“Forty-five families from the Quilombo Pontes community in Pirapemas, Maranhão state, Brazil, are being systematically threatened and intimidated by gunmen who are patrolling the area,” says an urgent action alert issued by Amnesty International Wednesday.
“The gunmen have been employed by local ranchers who are trying to push the community off the land. The community’s crops and property have been destroyed and its members are struggling to provide food for their families,” it adds.
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http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/08/activists-alarmed-at-release-of-dorothy-stangs-murderer/
The Life and Brutal Death of Sister Dorothy, a Rainforest Martyr
On the Lawless Fringe of Brazil's Amazon Jungle - Where Illegal Loggers Have Devastated the Rainforest - the American Nun Dorothy Stang Defended the Poor,Then the Gunmen Came for Her
by Andrew Buncombe
Sister Dorothy Stang lived among those who wanted her dead. When they finally came for her she read passages from the Bible to her killers. They listened for a moment, then fired. Her body was found face down in the mud, blood staining the back of her white blouse.
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The 74-year-old activist was laid to rest yesterday morning after being assassinated by two gunmen on Saturday at a remote encampment in the jungle about 30 miles from the town. Sister Dorothy - the most prominent activist to be murdered in the Amazon since Chico Mendez in 1988 - was shot six times in the head, throat and body at close range. "She was on a list of people marked for death. And little by little they're ticking those names off the list," said Nilde Sousa, an official with a local women's group who worked with the nun.
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http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0215-03.htm
= new reply since forum marked as read
As soon as his name emerged as one of the ranchers who hired the assassins, he put up a website explaining how innocent he is, and what a fine man, pillar of the community he is, with photos of his wife and his family, on and on and on until you could vomit.
He went on a campaign to prove he was a real humdinger. There was even a parade in his name in his small town right away, with townspeople turning out, carrying banners, flags, etc. with his name on them, and cars driving along the road with stickers, banners, etc.
It took forever for them to get him into jail at all.
And now this. He proves he is literally more powerful than mere law, he can BUY the law.
Also his side went upon a hate campaign against Dorothy Stang, and against environmentalists, getting ordinary fellow ranchers, farmers, sitting around in public places discussing Dorothy Stang using filthy language in the process, calling her filthy names, using real hate speech against the little nun.
Truly right-wing behavior, isn't it? You'd better by god believe it.
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When karma is realized it's not going to be pretty.[/center]