Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media outlet: Security incident reported in the Gaza Strip
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson: No new date or venue has been set for the meeting between Araghchi and Witkoff, and no negotiations will take place until the outcome is guaranteed
Palestinian platforms: Settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque complex under the protection of the occupation police
Palestinian platforms: The IOF detonated a booby-trapped robot east of the al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City
Syrian Defense: We call on all parties in Sweida to cooperate with security forces and exercise restraint
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: We have strong indications that there are martyrs, injuries, and trapped people in the Salah al-Din area

Bolsonaro blamed for Amazon murder

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 16 Jun 2022 23:01
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

After evidence mounted that the British journalists were murdered in the Amazon, all fingers are pointed at President Jair Bolsonaro.

  • x
  • Bolsonaro blamed for Amazon murder.
    Bolsonaro blamed for Amazon murder

Nature activists, colleagues, and the family of British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira expressed outrage Thursday as evidence mounted that they were murdered in the Amazon, blaming the Brazilian government.

Phillips, 57, and Pereira, 41, went missing on June 5 in a remote area of the rainforest known for illegal mining, fishing, and logging, as well as drug trafficking.

Ten days later, on Wednesday, a suspect named Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira led police to a location where he claimed to have assisted in the burial of bodies near the city of Atalaia do Norte, where the pair had planned to stop.

Human remains discovered at the site were to be transported to Brazilia on Thursday and officially identified by experts. The results should be available by next week.

Read next: Amazon fisherman confesses to killing missing pair

Late Wednesday, the federal police chief of Brazil's northern Amazonas state said the remains "corresponded" to the missing men with "a 99-percent probability." They had apparently been shot.

Phillips, a long-time contributor to The Guardian and other leading international newspapers, and Pereira were working on a book about sustainable development in the Amazon when they went missing.

Pereira, a FUNAI expert, had received numerous threats from loggers and miners attempting to infiltrate remote Indigenous land.

'Heartbroken' 

The discovery of two bodies on Wednesday, which they interpreted as proof that the pair were murdered, left Phillips' family "heartbroken".

Related News

Trump's Bolsonaro defense prompts sharp Lula response

Jair Bolsonaro faces coup trial in Brazil’s supreme court

According to Greenpeace Brazil, the deaths were "a direct result of President Jair Bolsonaro's agenda for the Amazon, which opens the way for predatory activities and crimes to be replicated in broad daylight."

The Javari Valley, where the men went missing, is home to about 20 isolated Indigenous groups, as well as drug traffickers, loggers, miners, and illegal fishermen.

"In the last three years, our country has increasingly become a land where the only valid law is that of 'anything goes'," said Greenpeace of the Bolsonaro term.

Read next: Fears around UK journalist, indigenous expert missing in Amazon

"It has become a land of invasion and land grabbing; of mining and illegal logging; of territorial conflicts, and where it’s worth killing to ensure that none of these criminal activities are prevented from happening. All this is fueled by the actions and omissions of the Brazilian government." 

Bolsonaro has advocated for the development of the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, since taking office in 2019. He drew new criticism on Wednesday for saying Phillips' reporting on the region was "disliked" and that he should have been more cautious.

"The level of violence applied to Bruno and Dom makes clear how the Amazon is at the mercy of the law of the most powerful, under which brutality is the rule," said WWF Brazil.

"The State abandoned the Amazon due to a meaningless project of destruction of the forest and extermination of its peoples."

 'Political crime' 

The Univaja Indigenous Peoples group, which was involved in the search, called the suspected killings a "political crime", while the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism stated that "the president and his allies have become protagonists of attacks on the press" in order to expose environmental crimes.

Jonathan Watts, Phillips' colleague at The Guardian, told AFP in London that the "monstrous" crime should not deter journalists and others from seeking the truth.

"People dead for defending Indigenous lands and the environment. Brazil cannot be that," said ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will face Bolsonaro in the October elections.

The investigation into the motive for the crime, as well as the roles played by Oliveira and fellow suspect Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, is still ongoing.

According to Brazilian media, three more people may be involved. The information has not been confirmed by police, but more arrests are not ruled out.

  • Jair Bolsonaro
  • Brazil
  • Amazon

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
The Freedom Flotilla ship Handala as it departs for Gaza, where it aims to break the maritime blockade at a port in Syracuse, Sicily in southern Italy on July 13, 2025. (AFP)
Palestine

Freedom Flotilla's Handala departs Sicily in bid to break Gaza siege

The container ship CMA CGM Laperouse, left, docks at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah, Sept. 29, 2021, in Savannah, Ga (AP)
Politics

US shipbuilding woes deepen as tariffs, outdated policies backfire

Gaza war raises ethical questions for ex-Obama, Biden officials
Politics

Mercenary firm tied to Gaza war crimes hires Obama-Biden PR operatives

'Israel' targets children in Gaza collecting water
Palestine

'Israel' strikes Gaza kids fetching water, blames it on 'malfunction'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS