Police said that human remains have been found in the forest.
Brazil:
One of two people arrested in connection with the disappearance of a British journalist and an indigenous expert in Brazil’s Amazon confessed to having buried the couple in a forest, federal police said on Wednesday after human remains were found.
Dom Phillips and his guide Bruno Pereira went missing on June 5 in a remote part of the Amazon that is riddled with environmental crimes including illegal mining, fishing and logging, as well as drug trafficking.
Police did not specify whether the suspect, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, also confessed to killing the pair, saying only that he admitted to taking part in the episode and “detailed that crime and that Indicated the location where he had buried the bodies.”
Eduardo Alexandre Fontes, the chief of the federal police in Brazil’s Amazonas state, said during a press conference in the Amazon’s largest city, Manaus, that the site where the remains were found was “very difficult to reach.”
“Excavations have been done at the site. Excavations will continue, but human remains have already been found,” he said.
“As soon as we are able to verify with the help of expertise that it is indeed the remains of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, they will be returned to the families.”
Earlier in the day, police had taken Oliveira to a search site on the banks of the Itakai River, media reports said.
Philips’ Brazilian wife, Alessandra Sampaio, in a statement on Wednesday thanked “all the teams that carried out the search, especially the indigenous volunteers,” whose absence from the press conference was criticized by some observers.
“While we’re still waiting for a final confirmation, this tragic finale ends the pain of not knowing where Dom and Bruno were,” she said.
“Today we too begin our fight for justice … We will find peace only when necessary measures are taken to ensure that such a tragedy does not happen again.”
The second suspect, Oceni da Costa Oliveira’s brother, was arrested on Tuesday in the small northern town of Atalia do Norte, where Philips and Pereira disappeared into the remote Javari Valley after receiving threats during a trip. ,
The fisherman Amarildo was arrested on June 7. Both the suspects are 41 years old.
Phillips, 57, a longtime contributor to Britain’s The Guardian and other major international newspapers, was working on a book on sustainable development at Amazon.
Pereira, 41, a highly respected advocate for the region’s indigenous people, was serving as their guide while on leave from his job with the Brazilian government’s Indigenous Affairs Agency, or FUNAI.
The father of three had repeatedly reported being threatened by loggers, miners and illegal fishermen who tried to encroach on the protected land.
The disappearance of the two men sparked global outrage, sparking backlash from high-profile political figures as well as celebrities such as members of the Irish rock band U2.
– Britain ‘dislikes’ –
President Jair Bolsonaro said on Monday that entrails had been found in the water during a search, but this was never confirmed by police.
A day earlier, police said they had found personal belongings of two missing people.
Bolsonaro – whose government has been accused of dragging its feet in the investigation – drew fresh criticism on Wednesday for calling a Phillips “dislike” for his reporting on the area and should have been more careful.
“That Englishman was disliked in the area, because he wrote a lot of articles against illegal gold miners (and) environmental issues,” Bolsonaro said.
He told journalist Leda Nagle in an interview for his YouTube channel, “Many people didn’t like him. He should have more than doubled the precautions he was taking. And he decided to go on an excursion instead. decided.”
“All signs indicate that if they are killed – and I hope they are not – they are in the water, and there will not be much left in the water. I don’t know if the piranhas are in the jawari,” Bolsonaro said. .
He again blamed the missing, saying, “It was very reckless to travel in that area without adequate preparation, both physically and with weapons.”
His comments sparked outrage among critics.
“How disgusting,” wrote journalist Ana Luiza Basilio on Twitter.
Opposition MP Orlando Silva tweeted: “The victims are not to blame.”
“The government has an obligation to defend the country and not encourage criminals who control the territory.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)