Benki: “This is my sentence and it is very sad to see a country in this situation where we ask for protection and are incriminated by justice. We will publish on partner networks to counter the state on this injustice against my person. I am going to share a repudiation letter asking for the support of all those who know my life, always acting for a better world. I have also written to social networks asking the state responsible for the mistakes that have caused so many deaths and humiliations for indigenous leaders in our country. I am a human being consciously acting to defend the rights of the less fortunate ones on this earth. ”
URGENT: SIGN AND DISTRIBUTE THE PETITION TO PROTECT THE FAMOUS CHIEF BENKI ASHANINKA THREATENED OF PRISON, FOLLOWING A REQUEST FOR PROTECTION !!!!
Sign / share: https://lc.cx/ddpG
Benki Piyãnco of the Ashaninka people is one of the Brazilian indigenous leaders of the most respected young guard. His commitment to protecting the Amazon rainforest and its guardians, indigenous peoples, reforestation and agro-forestry programs are acclaimed and rewarded around the world. His growing influence has apparently become too much of a threat to those who profit from the destruction of the planets green lung, which is essential for our own survival.
We all need to mobilize to protect this man who works for the common good of humanity.
Well accustomed to witnessing the judicial persecution of indigenous activists in Brazil, the country with the largest number of murdered environmental activists in the world, Planète Amazone is keen to partner up with Avaaz and Benkys lawer, whom we’ve long known and admired for a long time.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
After being threatened in the city of Marechal Thaumaturgo (Brazilian state of Acre) following land disputes, Benki Piyãko, Ashaninka leader of the region of Alto Juruá, complained to the police to report the risks of violence against him, because of his role as an environmental activist and promoter of internationally recognized and award-winning agroforestry, and head of the Ashaninka community of Amônia – Apiwtxa River.
The investigation of the complaint went to the headquarters of the municipality, examining only the allegations of the accused, and without hearing Benki Piyãnco or the members of his association they decided not only to complaint but also to accuse him, asking for the opening of criminal proceedings against the indigenous leader himself, for the crime of slanderous denunciation.
The prosecutor of the Acre State has accepted the indictment and the continuation of the criminal case against Benki Piyãnco, and now the leader Ashaninka can be sentenced to a maximum of eight years of prison. The trial in the first criminal chamber in the Cruzeiro do Sul / AC region is at final argument for defense and prosecution and will be judged soon. The lawyer responsible for Benki’s defense is Antonio Rodrigo Machado, also active in the defense of the Ashaninka people and in other cases against loggers.
According to the lawyer, “it is because Benki Piyãnco asked the Brazilian state to benefit from police protection that conversely, he finds himself today sitting on the dock for a crime that he did not commit. By becoming the victim of the favoritism of the Brazilian criminal justice system, it is not only the freedom of Benki that is threatened, but especially the respect of this country towards the indigenous people of the forest and their cultures.”
