[ad_1]
The Brazilian Civil Police arrested an employee of the Carrefour supermarket allegedly involved in the death of João Alberto Freitas, a 40-year-old black citizen who was beaten and killed by security guards at the supermarket last week.
The woman now detained, Adriana Alves Dutra, is a surveillance agent for the Carrefour unit where the assaults occurred in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, and appears in video images released by citizens who witnessed the scenes of violence against João Alberto Freitas.
According to the director of the Homicide Department of the Civil Police, Vanessa Pitrez, the authorities believe that the woman played a decisive role in the attacks, because, by her position, would have command power over the two security guards.
One of the witnesses to the crime says that he was threatened by the Carrefour inspector while filming the attacks.
The security guards who attacked João Alberto Freitas were arrested the night of the crime.
On Monday, the Civil Police reported that seven people are being investigated in this investigation.
João Alberto, a 40-year-old black man, was violently beaten to death by two white security guards from the French supermarket chain Carrefour, in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, on Thursday night.
The violent attacks, captured in photos and videos and widely disseminated on social media, shocked Brazilians and provoked countless criticism.
In addition to the punches, kicks and strangulation that the man received, witnesses reported hearing João Alberto’s cries for help, as well as his statements that he could not breathe.
After this death, which occurred on the eve of Black Awareness Day, a celebration instituted in Brazil in honor of Zumbi, the historical leader of the Palmares quilombo, a community created by black fugitives in northeastern Brazil who resisted the slavery imposed by the Portuguese during the colonization, thousands of people took to the streets in protest against racism in the South American country.
On Tuesday, the United Nations (UN) denounced the existence of “structural racism” in Brazil and called for an independent investigation into the death of João Alberto.
It was “an extreme case, but unfortunately it reflects the recurring violence against the black population in Brazil,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Human Rights Office in Geneva.
Structural racism is the term used to describe societies structured on the basis of discrimination that privileges some races over others.
“The number of Afro-Brazilian homicide victims is disproportionate compared to any other group,” said the UN spokeswoman.
After the case that shocked the country, the Carrefour chain announced the creation of a fund of 25 million reais (3.9 million euros) to promote racial inclusion and combat racism in Brazil.
[ad_2]
