Rancher Charged With Masterminding Murder Of U.S. Nun Is Released by Order of Brazil's Supreme Court

Missionary Dorothy Stang
was murdered in 2005
in the northern state of Pará.

The "Washington Post" reports that a Brazilian rancher charged with masterminding the murder of American nun Dorothy Stang has been ordered released by Brazil's Supreme Court.  

The rancher, Regivaldo Galvão, was found guilty in 2010 of ordering the murder, but was then freed on appeal. He was imprisoned again a year later, when a Pará court determined that he must begin serving his sentence before his appeal process was finished.  

As the article points out, this case is not an uncommon one.  More than 1,150 rural activist have been killed in the past 20 years, but fewer than 100 cases have gone to court since 1988.  

Wealthy landowners have exerted considerable influence in Brazil for hundreds of years. 

According to the article, the state of Pará is "notorious for land-related violence, contract killings, slave-like labor conditions and wanton environmental destruction."

Source: Brazil Portal