“We will remain attentive to all the developments of the investigations, demanding justice”, said Alessandra Sampaio, widow of the English journalist Dom Phillips, murdered in Vale do Javari, in Amazonas, during a wake this Sunday in Niterói, in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro.
Dom’s family and friends gathered at the Parque da Colina cemetery to say goodbye to the journalist, who will be cremated.
“We will remain attentive to all developments in the investigations, demanding justice in the broadest sense of the term. We renew our struggle so that our pain and that of Bruno Pereira’s family will not be repeated, as well as that of other families of journalists and environmental defenders who remain at risk. They remain at risk. Rest in peace, Bruno and Dom”, said Alessandra.
The wake was attended by the journalist’s Brazilian and British family, as well as friends and activists. Alessandra thanked the efforts of those involved in the search for the bodies of her husband and indigenist Bruno Pereira, the press and indigenous peoples.
“I am immensely grateful to the press and journalist friends who have been fundamental in the efforts to investigate the case, in demanding transparency in the investigations and in the mobilization that allowed us all to reach this point. I also sincerely thank all the people who showed solidarity with Dom, with Bruno, with our families and friends, here in Brazil and in other countries”, thanked Alessandra. According to her, Dom “will be cremated in the country he loved”.
“Today Dom will be cremated in the country he loved, his chosen home Brazil. Today is a day of mourning. Dom was a very special person, not only for standing up for what he believed in as a professional, but also for having a huge heart and a great love for humanity,” he said in a statement.
In the statement, Dom’s sister, Sian Phillips, said her brother was killed “for trying to tell the world what happened to the forest and its inhabitants.”
“Dom was a brilliant journalist, committed to sharing stories about Brazilian diversity, favela dwellers and Amazonian indigenous people. He was killed because he tried to tell the world what is happening to the forest and its inhabitants, about the impact of illegal activities in this forest. He was killed trying to help indigenous people,” Sian said.
The bodies of Bruno and Dom were found 3 km from the Itaquaí River, in Atalaia do Norte, in an area of a stream. They were identified after the Federal Police took one of the suspects involved in the crime to the search site, where he pointed out the point in the woods where the bodies were hidden. Two days earlier, the authorities said they had collected biological material near the river, in the same region where they also found a backpack with Dom and Bruno’s belongings. The boat used by the indigenist and the journalist was identified on Sunday, 19.
Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira were recognized professionals in their fields and shared a passion for the Amazon and for the preservation of nature and the native peoples of the region. Dom was a freelance journalist and contributor to The Guardian newspaper. The Englishman was 57 years old and had lived in Brazil since 2007, where he published several reports on politics and the environment in vehicles such as the Financial Times, New York Times, Bloomberg and Washington Post.
Bruno Pereira was born in Recife, 41 years old and joined Funai as an indigenism agent in September 2010. Two years later, he joined the regional coordination of Funai in Atalaia do Norte – the area where he was last seen. He left the position in 2016 and, in 2018, he returned to provide services to Funai as the general coordinator of Isolated Indians and of Recent Contact of the Territorial Protection Directorate.
Pereira and Phillips roamed the Vale do Javari region. Pereira guided residents of the region to denounce irregularities committed on an indigenous reserve and the foreign journalist followed the work to record in a book, which he intended to write.
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