Brazilian indigenous leaders subpoenaed for criticizing government

[Judi Lynn]

May 3, 2021
6:44 PM CDT

Reuters

2 minute read

Brazil's indigenous affairs agency Funai has called on a top indigenous leader to explain her criticism of the right-wing government of President Jair Bolsonaro and the impact its handling of the COVID-19 crisis has had on native people.

Federal police have subpoenaed Sonia Guajajara, head of Brazil's largest indigenous umbrella organization APIB, to testify on her statements at the request of Funai, which was set up in 1967 to defend the interests of indigenous people.

Guajajara said she was summoned to explain her documentary series published on Internet called "Maracá - Indigenous Emergency" which denounces the lethal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Brazil's 850,000 indigenous people and accuses the government of genocide for not protecting them.

"The persecution by this government is unacceptable and absurd! They will not shut us up," Guajajara said in a Twitter message on Friday.

More:
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazilian-indigenous-leaders-subpoenaed-criticizing-government-2021-05-03/

[abqtommy]

1. This is a tactic of far-right/fascist governments worldwide. The kindest way to deal with

fascists is to lock them up.