Police in Brazil accuse ‘criminal mastermind’ of being responsible for the killing of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira
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The recent news of two more men being charged with the murders of British journalist and former Mixmag editor Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira’s murders in the Amazon last year has shocked the world. According to The Guardian, Brazilian broadcaster TV Globo revealed on Sunday that two men, including the alleged leader of a “transnational illegal fishing network” Ruben Dario da Silva Villar, have been charged with the murders and concealment of their bodies.
Jânio Freitas de Souza, a fisherman who was allegedly one of Ruben Dario da Silva Villar’s ‘henchmen’ along the same river where Phillips and Pereira were murdered, was also charged. The men operated in the tri-border region between Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, according to TV Globo, and were working along the Itaquaí river where Phillips and Pereira were shot dead on June 5 while returning from a reporting mission.
Silva Villar was charged with the murders and concealment of both bodies, which were discovered on June 18, 2022, some 13 days after they were killed. The Guardian reported that a police indictment revealed both Souza and Silva Villar spoke in the days leading up to the murders.
The deaths of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira have been met with widespread shock and sadness as the world grieves for their loss. Both men set out on a reporting mission in the remote region of Javari Valley last year to raise awareness and help the Indigenous communities of Brazil in defending their lands.
Phillips was a highly respected journalist who had reported critically on topics including the policies of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, corruption among his political allies, and allegations against meat processing companies and goldminers for illegal Amazon deforestation that is impacting Indigenous communities. The British journalist’s book, How to Save the Amazon: Ask The People Who Know, is due to be finished and published posthumously by friends and colleagues.
Speaking to The Guardian, one contributing journalist Jonathan Watts said: “We wanted to focus on something positive, and the most important thing we could think of was to complete the work that Dom had started. Good journalism mustn’t be silenced.”
Bruno Araújo Pereira was a former government employee whose work focused on protecting Brazil’s uncontacted tribes. He has regularly received threats from loggers and miners seeking to exploit Indigenous lands.
Several events in both Brazil and the UK are due to take place in memory of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira this week, marking one year since their murders. They’re due to go ahead in Brasília, Funai, Campinas, Salvador, Belém, and London.
The news of the charges against two more men provides some relief for those who have been seeking justice for the murders of Phillips and Pereira. The world will now be watching closely as the men go to trial and justice is served for these two dedicated and brave journalists who lost their lives doing their important work to protect the lands and rights of Indigenous communities in the Amazon.
