2 face retrials in nun’s killing

The retrial begins today for the man convicted of
shooting the nun.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) — Two men convicted in the 2005 slaying of American nun and rainforest defender Dorothy Stang get new trials this week, the final phase of proceedings seen as a key test of justice in the violent Amazon region.

Brazil grants the right to retrial to anyone sentenced to more than 20 years in prison, as was the case for the man convicted of shooting Ohio-born Dorothy Stang and a rancher found guilty of ordering Stang’s killing.

While human-rights groups say they support the Brazilian appeals process, they fear diminished international attention on the case could result in lighter sentences or even acquittals this time around.

They say the results of the retrials could set a precedent for breaking the impunity that has largely prevailed in land-related killings, which have claimed nearly 800 lives in the Amazon state of Para over the past three decades.

“The slowness of justice and paucity of police investigations of rural violence has created a pattern of impunity,” said Tim Cahill, Brazil Campaigner for Amnesty International.

Stang, born in Dayton, was a nun with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur order and spent the last 30 years of her life working with poor settlers in the Amazon rainforest, helping them gain land and protect the environment.

Her efforts earned her the enmity of powerful loggers and ranchers who wanted to log a patch of land she was trying to preserve.

The 73-year-old Stang was shot at close range on a muddy stretch of road deep in the heart of the Amazon rainforest in February 2005.

The retrial of Rayfran das Neves Sales, the man convicted in December 2005 of shooting Stang, begins today and is expected to last two days, said Gloria Lima, a spokeswoman for the Para state court in Belem. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura, was convicted in May of ordering Stang’s killing, and sentenced to 30 years. He is set to stand trial Thursday.

Two other accomplices received sentences of less than 20 years and do not get retrials. Another alleged mastermind, a wealthy rancher, remains free on bail with no trial date in sight.