Brazilian murder suspect held

Press, 30 December 1988, Page 8

Brazilian murder suspect held

NZPA-Reuter Sao Paulo Brazil’s Justice Ministry said yesterday that police had captured a key suspect in last week’s murder of an ecologist, Francisco Mendes, aged 44, a case which has provoked international outrage.

Luis Fernando Eichenberg, the Ministry’s secre-tary-general, said the suspect, Oloci Alves da Silva, was caught after a shootout with police in the Amazonian town of Xapuri, where Mendes was shot and killed on December 22.

Mr Eichenberg said that Oloci was a son of Darli Alves da Silva, one of two leading suspects in the Mendes case.

“He will clear up a lot of things for us,” Mr Eichenberg said, adding that there was evidence that Oloci had been present at the scene of the crime.

Oloci’s father and an uncle, identified as Alvarino Alves da Silva, are the primary suspects in the case. Both are still at large.

Mr Mendes, a rubber tapper who won inter-

national recognition for his efforts to preserve the Amazon rainforests, said before his death that the two cattle ranchers were out to kill him. The murder of Mr Mendes, known as the Gandhi of Amazonia because of his non-violent ecological campaign, has caused revulsion among ecological groups worldwide. The Brazilian Government has come under strong pressure to solve the case. The da Silva brothers were wanted on murder charges even before the Mendes killing, but apparently no effort was made to arrest them. Brazil’s leading newspapers have published detailed accounts of the two men’s lives, chronicling a long history of murders and violence dating back to 1958. In a bizarre twist to the case Mr Eichenberg said Oloci’s brother Darci, who handed himself in to police on Monday claiming to be Mr Mendes’ murderer, had not convinced the police with his story.