Brazil: Funeral held for British journalist murdered in the Amazon

Family and friends of British journalist Dom Phillips attended his funeral near Rio de Janeiro. The last rites for indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, who was also killed, were held a day earlier.

Family members and friends paid their last respects on Sunday to British journalist Dom Phillips, who was murdered in the Amazon earlier this month along with Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira.

He was conducting research for a book on how to save the Amazon rainforest when he was murdered.

"Dom will be cremated in the country he loved, Brazil, which he had chosen as home," his widow, Brazilian Alessandra Sampaio, told reporters after his funeral at the Parque da Colina cemetery.

"I would like to express my eternal gratitude to the Indigenous peoples, who are with us as loyal guardians of life, justice, and our forests," she added.

She revealed the couple was planning to adopt two children from Brazil.

Sampaio said the family would be paying close attention to the murder of her husband and his colleague, and thanked the Indigenous people who helped look for them.

"He was killed because he tried to tell the world what was happening to the rainforest and its inhabitants," Phillips' sister Sian said.

Outside the cemetery where Phillips' funeral was held, some people protested with signs reading "Who ordered to kill Dom and Bruno?"

How did the two men go missing?

The disappearance of Phillips and Pereira on June 5 sparked international outcry.

Phillips, 57, and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, 41, were killed on their boat on the Itaquai River, near the entrance of the Javari Valley Indigenous Territory, which borders Peru and Colombia.

Their remains were found in the jungle roughly 10 days later.

Three fishermen from nearby riverine communities were arrested. Two of them confessed to the murders, according to the police. Five others who helped hide the bodies have also been identified.

Some activists have blamed the killings on President Jair Bolsonaro for allowing commercial exploitation of the Amazon at the cost of the environment and law and order.

Phillips has written extensively about the Amazon, and was a contributor for The Guardian newspaper among other publications. Pereira was serving as his guide, and had previously traveled with him in 2018 to the area.

Pereira was a defender of Indigenous rights and had received multiple death threats. He was laid to rest Friday in his home state of Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil. It was attended by Indigenous people who paid their respects through traditional song and dance.