Weekly Report - 10 November 2011 (WR-11-45)

BRAZIL | Rio deputy flees, fearing for his life. A Rio de Janeiro state deputy has fled Brazil along with his family, saying he fears for his life following a series of death threats from local militias (right-wing paramilitary groups comprising active and former military police and fire officers). Marcelo Freixo, 44, of the Partido Socialismo e Liberdade (PSOL) left on 1 November, declaring the militias “a direct threat to public power in Brazil”. The general sense of impunity with which these groups operate was underlined by the assassination in Rio in August of a high-profile judge known for her tough sentencing of militia members. Her death, for which a local garrison military police commander and several of his officers were detained, led to the resignation of the head of the military police in Rio.

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