They were killed for his defense of the Amazon and Indigenous peoples.

On Monday, the Federal Court of Amazonas accepted a lawsuit filed by Brazilian prosecutors against Ruben Villar Coelho (aka “Colombia”), who is accused of being the mastermind behind the murders of Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips.

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The Prosecutor’s Office also accuses Villar Coelho of leading a criminal organization involved in illegal fishing, hunting, and drug trafficking in the border region.

According to Federal Police investigations, Pereira and Phillips were ambushed while traveling by river in the Amazon and were killed “with despicable motive, cruelty, and perversity.”

Villar Coelho ordered the killing to take revenge on Pereira for his work monitoring and cracking down on illegal fishing in the region. The British journalist was murdered “to ensure the concealment and impunity” of the crime against the Indigenous expert.

The text reads, “The Amazon must be taken back. Two years after the brutal murder of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, the question persists: Who governs in the Amazon? The answer still scares. As the BBC report shows, the intellectual authors of the murder are still loose, and the invaders continue to threaten the communities, destroying the forest, and looting what we are all. In the photo, Dom talks to the Mariana Tobias Pajé, of the Macauxi people, in the indigenous land of Serra do Sol Raposa. An image that symbolizes respect, listening and commitment. The Amazon must be taken back but not with promises but with real justice and firm action. It is time to expel bandits and return the dignity to this beautiful and vital earth.”

The crime occurred on June 5, 2022, in Atalaia do Norte, a municipality in the interior of Brazil’s Amazonas state, located in the tri-border Amazon region that connects Brazil, Colombia, and Peru.

At the time, Phillips had traveled to Atalaia do Norte to interview Indigenous leaders in the Javari Valley for his upcoming book, How to Save the Amazon.

Pereira, who served as his guide, was an Indigenous affairs expert working on environmental preservation and Indigenous rights projects. He was employed by the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI).

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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