Assassinated: Brazilian Judge Who Stood Up, Is Shot Down

[WillyT]

Brazil: Patricia Acioli Assassination Is Intimidating Message From Militias
By JULIANA BARBASSA - AP/HuffPo
09/16/11 04:49 PM ET



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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Judge Patricia Acioli was known for wielding a "heavy hammer," especially against rogue police who have formed illegal vigilante gangs. She had put more than 60 officers behind bars, most of them for murder. The Rio de Janeiro state judge paid for that fearlessness: Acioli was shot to death in front of her house last month. And all of the 21 bullets that hit her came from a lot issued to police, including some in Sao Goncalo, the city where she worked.

While violence and impunity are common in Brazil, the brazen murder of Acioli was an especially heavy blow, a message of intimidation from the vigilante militias.

The slaying was "a wound to the lawful state, to democracy; the figure of the judge is a symbol of justice," said Denise Frossard, a retired judge who presided over some of Rio's first cases against the militias in the 1990s. "If she is a judge and can be killed, how can a citizen feel secure enough to be a witness?"

Acioli's death was the first murder of a judge in the state's history, though Frossard herself survived three assassination attempts and had eight security guards ensuring her safety while she was on the bench.

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More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/16/patricia-acioli-brazil-assassination_n_967021.html

[Blue_Tires]

1. very sad...

[polly7]

2. What an awful end for such a courageous woman. Very sad nt.

[Uncle Joe]

3. She was a hero for the Brazilian People

What a tragic waste.:(

Thanks for the thread, WillyT.