Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Brazil: Jury overturns verdict in nun murder

A Brazilian jury acquitted a rancher who was convicted last year in the killing of nun/activist Dorothy Stang. Vitalmiro Vastos de Moura was sent to twenty years in jail along with Rayfran das Neves for killing Stang. Yet de Moura was set free with testimony from das Neves who claimed that de Moura did not give him the gun used to murder Stang in 2005.

Stang’s family was understandably disappointed with the court’s decision:

Sister Dorothy's sister Marguerite Hohm had watched the two-day long trial from her home in the US via a live internet feed.

"I saw the judge shaking hands with the defendants and I didn't understand what was going on," Ms Hohm told the Associated Press news agency. "We're very saddened."

Stang had allegedly been the target of Brazilian ranchers who disliked her opposition to the exploitation of poor and indigenous peoples by large landowners.

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Los Angeles Times, Guardian UK, BBC News, earthtimes

Image- MSNBC

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