Federal prosecutors in Brazil on Friday charged three men with the murder of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, a crime that drew widespread attention to the growing lawlessness in the Amazon rainforest under the government of President Jair Bolsonaro.
A federal court in the state of Amazonas accepted the charges against Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, Oseney da Costa de Oliveira and Jefferson da Silva Lima, according to a statement. All three were already under arrest and will remain in custody.
Yellow and Jefferson have confessed to the crimeaccording to the statement.
Pereira, a former official with the federal agency for indigenous affairs Funai, had previously clashed with Amarildo over illegal fishing within indigenous territory.
“What motivated the murders was the fact that Bruno had asked Dom to photograph the suspect’s boat,” the statement said. Prosecutors added that they viewed this motivation as “frivolous,” a designation that can lead to harsher sentences under Brazilian law.
Phillips, who was in the region doing research for a book, was killed so he couldn’t identify the men, prosecutors said.
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