Assemblyman José Riva.
Enock Cavalcanti and Adriana Vandoni two bloggers, from Mato Grosso state, in the Brazilian Midwest, who write the blogs “Prosa e Política” (Prose and Politics) and “Página do E” (E Page) were forbidden by Judge Pedro Sakamoto from commenting on injunctions issued by the prosecution against state assemblyman José Riva.
Riva is the president of Mato Grosso’s Legislative Assembly and a defendant in more than one hundred lawsuits regarding an alleged scheme of embezzlement of up to 80 million Brazilian reais (US$ 46 million).
The judge also decreed that the “offensive” texts be deleted from Cavalcanti’s blog. The journalists will have to pay a daily fine of 1,000 reais (US$ 570) if they disobey the order. (more…)
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Regarding the latest reports in the media, the MST (Movimento Sem Terra) national directorate would like to make the following public announcement.
1. Our struggle is for the democratization of property, which is constantly becoming more and more concentrated in our country. The 2006 census, disclosed this past week, revealed that Brazil has the highest concentration of land in the world. There are fewer than 15 thousand large landowners with estates of over 2,500 hectares and who possess upwards of a total of 98 million hectares. About 1% of all the landowners control nearly 46% of the land.
2. There exists an agrarian reform law intended to correct this historical distortion. However, laws that are in favor of the people only work with popular support and pressure. We apply pressure by means of occupying large properties and estates that are unproductive. Such property does not serve its social function as is defined in the 1988 constitution. (more…)
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Cesare Battisti
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is not thinking of extraditing Italian former guerrilla Cesare Battisti despite a Supreme Court ruling that he should be sent home, a high-ranking government source said on Thursday.
Brazil’s top court ruled on Wednesday that Battisti should be extradited on murder convictions from the 1970s in Italy, but it left the final decision to Lula who granted him refugee status early this year.
The source, who did not want to be identified, said Lula was in no hurry to announce his decision and that the government would seek more judicial arguments to back up its view that Battisti should be allowed asylum in Brazil.
Lula’s decision to give Battisti refugee status in January strained ties between the two countries, with Italy briefly withdrawing its ambassador to Brazil. (more…)
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Cesare Battisti
Brazil’s top judge said he would vote to extradite former Italian guerrilla Cesare Battisti to face murder charges in Italy.
The vote by Supreme Court Chief Justice Mendes broke a tie among the court’s judges and comes days after Battisti went on a hunger strike in a Brazilian prison to protest his possible extradition.
Brazilian President Lula decided in January to grant Battisti political refugee status and could still decide to block the court’s decision, although no president has ever done so in an extradition case.
The court is expected to decide later in the day if Lula can ignore the ruling in favor of Battisti’s extradition.
Lula’s decision to grant Battisti refugee status was based on a recommendation from his justice minister Tarso Genro, a leftist who argued that the Italian activist was being targeted for his past political views. (more…)
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Walsh was stopped by customs officials at Glasgow airport
A woman who was caught trying to smuggle cocaine worth more than half a million pounds from Brazil into Scotland has been jailed for 30 months.
Deborah Walsh, 36, was stopped by customs at Glasgow Airport having just arrived from Sao Paolo.
Officials discovered hidden drugs with a street value of £560,000 in the lining of one of her travel bags.
At the High Court in Glasgow admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine in June this year.
The court was told that Walsh’s ticket to Sao Paolo was bought two days before she flew out, by a foreign-sounding man who paid in cash. (more…)
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