The Federal Police (PF) has reported that five people are being investigated for the disappearance of the journalist Dom Phillips and the Brazilian indigenista Bruno Araújo after the confession of the two main suspects of having allegedly participated in their murder in the Valle del Yavarí region, in Amazonas.
According to the newspaper ‘O Globo’, the PF has indicated this Thursday that three people are being investigated who participated "In a direct way" in the murderwhile there would be another presumed suspect, who would have been in charge of hiding the mortal remains, and, finally, a fifth, who would be the presumed mastermind.
The Federal Police found this Wednesday two bodies in the area, known for being one of the most inaccessible in the region, home not only to the largest concentration of uncontacted indigenous peoples, but also the scene of one of the largest circulation routes for cocaine that arrives from Peru, bound for Europe, and from other raw materials, such as illegally mined timber and gold.
The plane with the remains will arrive in Brasilia this Thursday and the bodies will be sent to the National Institute of Criminalistics, where experts will try to determine if the bodies are those of the disappeared indigenist and journalist, in addition to the cause of death, according to the report. newspaper ‘Folha de S.Paolo’.
Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, alias ‘Pelado’, confirmed to the Federal Police the place where he had buried the bodies, in addition to hiding the boat in which they were traveling, so the Brazilian security forces reconstructed the route.
A key witness stated that he saw ‘Pelado’ load a shotgun and make an ammunition belt shortly after Phillips and Pereira left the Sao Rafael community for Atalaia do Norte, on the morning they were last seen.
‘Pelado’ is known in Brazil for his history of threatening and coercing indigenous peoples. The case of the disappearance of the journalist and the indigenist had been going on since June 5, when they were last seen in the community of Sao Rafael, within the indigenous lands of the Yavarí Valley.
On the other hand, the UN rapporteur for freedom of expression, Irene Jan, has indicated in an interview with the aforementioned Brazilian newspaper that the murder of journalists in a "erosion symptom" of democracy and has indicated that it is "fundamental" that the case be investigated.
"We know that ten journalists were killed in the Ukraine conflict. But when we see this happening in countries like Mexico or Brazil, the death of every journalist in these circumstances is an attack on democracy."has said.