MPF launches investigation against governor of Roraima for offensive speeches about Yanomami

Investigation

The document was forwarded to the Attorney General of the Republic

The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) opened an inquiry to investigate the Roraima government’s responsibility for minimizing the Yanomami crisis. The inquiry was launched after the governor of the state, Antonio Denarium, stated that the indigenous people “have to acculturate and can no longer remain in the middle of the forest, looking like animals”.

This statement was made in an interview with Folha de S.Paulo, when the governor responded about projects in the Yanomami Indigenous Land. According to the MPF in Roraima, the speeches have “discriminatory potential”, as provided for in Article 20 of the Law on Crimes of Race or Color Prejudice.

According to prosecutor Alisson Marugal, the statements offend the collective image of the Yanomami, labeling them as animals, and express a disparaging opinion that would imply that the indigenous people could not live their traditional way of life.

In a note, the Indigenous Council of Roraima, an organization representing 261 communities, repudiated Denarium’s statements and highlighted that the governor of Roraima minimizes the serious state of public calamity faced by the Yanomami indigenous peoples due to the invasion of their territory by illegal miners.

The Indigenous Council of Roraima requested an investigation from the state Attorney’s Office, the Federal Police Superintendence and the Ministries of Indigenous Peoples and Justice.

The MPF document has already been forwarded to the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, who is responsible for establishing a criminal conduct investigation and denouncing the governor to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), in case there is evidence of a criminal act.

The Communication Secretariat of the government of Roraima reported that the information provided by Governor Antonio Denarium was taken out of context in the published article. And that, at no time, did the governor make any discriminatory quote, and that the desire for the improvement of people’s lives would be the desire of anyone who values ​​the dignity of indigenous people or not.

* With information from Agência Brasil

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