One of the suspects responsible for the deaths of indigenist Bruno da Cunha de Araújo Pereira and English journalist Dom Phillips, which took place in June 2022, Rubens Villar Coelho, known as Colombia, was released on Friday morning (21) after pay R$ 15 thousand in bail.
On the last 10th, the Federal Justice of Amazonas had granted provisional release to Colombia regarding a lawsuit on the use of false documents by the investigated. He remained in detention and one of the restrictions imposed by Judge Fabiano Verli was the payment of bail, in addition to remaining in house arrest and presenting himself to justice monthly. The prisoner is also prohibited from leaving the city of Manaus and must wear an electronic anklet.
The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) expressed its opposition to the granting of provisional release and filed an appeal arguing that the suspect should remain in prison until all doubts about his identity are resolved. At the time of his arrest, he presented to the Federal Police (PF) documents from three different nationalities – Brazilian, Peruvian and Colombian – in which he is identified as Rubens or Ruben.
The MPF argues that “the applicant, once released, does not need much to evade and evade the application of Brazilian criminal law”. The prosecution also maintains that the Brazilian document presented by him to the PF “is ideologically false and, as a result, Rubens (or Ruben), in fact, committed the crime of using a false document”.
Bruno da Cunha de Araujo Pereira was an indigenist and one of the greatest experts on indigenous people living in isolation in Brazil. Pereira was licensed from Funai and worked as an advisor for Univaja. Born in Recife, he was 41 years old and left a wife and three children.
the journalist Bishop Phillips he collaborated with several newspapers abroad, such as The New York Times, The Guardian and The Washington Post. He made several trips to the Amazon, where he reported on deforestation and crime. He had lived in Brazil for 15 years and was married to a Brazilian woman.
On June 5, 2022, the indigenist and the journalist disappeared a few kilometers from Vale do Javari. Between the 17th and 18th of that month, the PF confirmed the recognition of the mortal remains belonging to the victims.
At the time of the arrest, the defense attorney for Rubens Villar Coelho, Eduardo Rodrigues, informed the CNN that his client has no involvement with the deaths of Dom and Bruno.
Source: CNN Brasil
