Written by By Staff Writer
Director Fernando Bernardo says it was a school assignment that brought him to a unique place and the work of these students will soon be called to the spotlight
Nearly 15 months after the horrifying murder of 17-year-old Marielle Franco, Brazil’s 45-year-old justice minister calls for mass homicide charges against the country’s president.
Bernardo sent a letter to other members of Congress on Tuesday saying President Jair Bolsonaro has a “moral responsibility” to endorse a response to the killing.
Francisco Franco with Marielle’s father Yemi. Image Credit: Sputnik/IRIN
Bernardo wrote: “Brazil’s president is Brazilian, he carries moral responsibility in this case. He should come out to support mass homicide against these killers and their accomplices.
“As president, Mr. Bolsonaro, your country can pay more than 3 billion reais [Dh2.07 billion] in damages to the parents of Marielle. On the one hand, those criminals could be given the penitentiary term for 10 years. This criminal record would be treated as an additional felony. The bonuses could be as big as 1,000 reais [Dh67.61] per month.”
Auxiliary Bishop Andre-Marcos Paulo Fernandes de Oliveira Rodrigues said he was “outraged” by Bernardo’s words.
“Bernardo had himself instructed us to study violent acts committed by his compatriots. Some videos (Instagram shows a professor) has been left with us for the past months. There’s no need for him to add his inflammatory and xenophobic language on Monday, after the honor of Catholic church members is denied,” the Bishop of Sao Paulo said.
“We’ll be moving to action with our entire Catholic fraternity today. Today, we will hold a two-hour meeting to protest his insults on social media channels that have left a trail of scandal and insult,” said the Bishop.
Macambi Lima, editor of the leading Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo told Al Jazeera that the Pope must denounce Bolsonaro’s words.
“Bolsonaro is protesting and that is a fact. He is using the Pope to do it, he is using him to be sanctimonious. But to keep it going, to keep all of the many derogatory and offensives he’s made, is to simply destroy the Pope,” Lima said.
