Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Hidden Article

This posting has been hidden because it breaches the Indymedia UK (IMC UK) Editorial Guidelines.

IMC UK is an interactive site offering inclusive participation. All postings to the open publishing newswire are the responsibility of the individual authors and not of IMC UK. Although IMC UK volunteers attempt to ensure accuracy of the newswire, they take no responsibility legal or otherwise for the contents of the open publishing site. Mention of external web sites or services is for information purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.

Brazilians Demand Arrest Over Killing

Associated Press, BBC Monday, Jul. 25, 2005 at 4:50 PM | 26.07.2005 03:14 | Anti-racism | Globalisation | Repression

Hundreds of relatives and friends of a Brazilian shot to death in London after being mistaken for a terrorist marched along the cobblestone streets of his hometown Monday, demanding the arrest of the British police who fired the fatal shots.



Some of the protesters held banners denouncing British police as the real terrorists; other placards were adorned with snapshots of Jean Charles de Menezes, urging British Prime Minister Tony Blair to send his body home so it can be buried.
All said Blair's apology did not go far enough.

"Apologies don't help, we want justice," they chanted, stopping briefly to offer a prayer for the 27-year-old electrician who left Brazil to work in Britain so he could return home with enough savings to start a cattle ranch.

Menezes' killing has been the top story on radio and television broadcasts since Sunday, although there has been no large-scale public outcry.

In London, foreign Minister Celso Amorin said he had instructions from president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva "to take firm measures to defend the interests of the family of a Brazilian who died in an absurd manner."

The militant Landless Rural Workers' Movement has scheduled protests Tuesday in front of the British Embassy in Brasilia and the consulate in Rio de Janeiro. The movement said in a statement that Menezes "was assassinated in cold blood, victim of intolerance" and called for the British withdrawal from Iraq.

Gonzaga's mayor, outraged over news Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder, called the killing an "assassination."
"It's easy for Blair to apologize, but it doesn't mean very much," said Mayor Julio de Souza. "What happened to English justice and England, a place where police patrol unarmed?"

Many were angry that there is still no word on when the body might be shipped back to Gonzaga, a central Brazilian town of 6,000 where young men often head to the United States and Europe to finance a better life back home. Menezes was killed last Friday, and Brazilians traditionally bury their dead no later than 24 hours after a person dies.

"We don't want apologies, he's ours and he should be here," said Maria Jose Carvalho, who has two sons working in the United States.
Gov. Aecio Neves of Minas Gerais, the rural state where the electrician was born, said the government would pay to fly his body back to Brazil for burial.

Some of Menezes' cousins were upset that Blair's apology included a defense of British police, who he said were working under intense pressure to prevent more terrorist attacks.

"His apologies aren't easing our pain," said Arialva Pereira, one of the cousins. "He's not saying anything about punishing the police who did this, it's more like he's supporting them."

The march ended in front of the town hall, where the Brazilian flag hung at half staff in front of town hall and a large black sheet was hung from the second floor as a sign of mourning.

Menezes was killed in a London subway station as police investigated a wave of botched bombings the day before and the deadly transit bombings of July 7.

Witnesses said Menezes was wearing a heavy, padded coat when plainclothes police chased him into a subway car, pinned him to the ground and shot him dead.

While Menezes' relatives said he was working legally in Britain and had no reason to fear police, the British Broadcasting Corp. said Menezes' visa had expired, suggesting a reason for why he ran.
Souza said the root cause of Menezes' death was Blair's decision to back the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. That prompted the wave of terrorist attacks, the mayor said.

"Gonzaga has nothing to do with terrorism and now it's been hit," Souza said. "Jean could have come back here and become a father, but now we'll never have a chance to have him with us again."
Menezes, called "Jim" by English friends, was believed to have been on his way to repair an alarm when he was shot, according to a cousin in London, Alex Pereira.

The killing probably won't stop Gonzaga natives from going abroad, said Regiani Castro, a 25-year-old who started a farm supplies store after working in Massachusetts for five years.
"They'll be scared, but they'll keep on going because that's the only way to guarantee your future here," he said.

UK Muslims feel 'under suspicion'

Senior members of the UK's Muslim community have voiced fears the London bombing hunt is making innocent people feel they are under suspicion.
Labour peer Lord Ahmed said many Muslims in the north of England believed they could become victims of mistaken identity by armed police.
And Azad Ali, chairman of the Muslim Safety Forum, said many young Muslims were reluctant to leave their homes.
"They fear that they're all suspected bombers," he told BBC Radio Five Live.

"We've received many emails, we've received telephone calls, about how young Muslims don't want to use the Tube now."

Police have called on the whole community to be vigilant when travelling on public transport and report anything they think to be suspicious.
But the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, has stressed no section of society should be singled out.

The shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian man police wrongly suspected of being a suicide bomber, has heightened fears that innocent people could be caught up in the investigation.

Lord Ahmed said some sections of the Muslim community were afraid they could also become a victim of mistaken identity.
"I've been to Bradford, Birmingham and Sheffield during the weekend and people are very concerned," he said.
They fear they could, like Mr Menezes, be victims of the shoot-to-kill policy or be mistakenly arrested as the police gather intelligence on the Muslim community.

Lord Ahmed also said it was possible illegal immigrants would run if challenged by the police.

"We know that there are many thousands or hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and if they're challenged by the police, they're not going to stand there and produce their ID, they obviously will try and run.

"And whilst we need to catch those illegal immigrants or asylum seekers, nevertheless we can't shoot them because they're not terrorists."

Anyone with dark skin who was running for a bus or Tube could be thought to be about to detonate a bomb, he said.

Associated Press, BBC Monday, Jul. 25, 2005 at 4:50 PM

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech