Her Continued Mission

http://dorothystang.org/

Dorothy Stang (July 7, 1931–February 12, 2005) was an American born, Brazilian sister of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur order, who was murdered in Anapu, a city in the state of Para, in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. Stang was outspoken in her efforts on behalf of the poor and the environment, and had previously received death threats from loggers and land owners.

Life work

Sister Dorothy, born in Dayton, Ohio, USA, but a naturalized Brazilian citizen, worked as an advocate for the rural poor beginning in the early 1970s, helping peasants make a living by farming small plots and extracting forest products without deforestation. She also sought to protect them from criminal gangs who were after their land. Dot, as she was called by her family, friends and most locals in Brazil, is often pictured wearing a t-shirt with the slogan, "A Morte da floresta é o fim da nossa vida" which is Portuguese for "The death of the forest is the end of our life."

“

I don't want to flee, nor do I want to abandon the battle of these farmers who live without any protection in the forest. They have the sacrosanct right to aspire to a better life on land where they can live and work with dignity while respecting the environment.

”

Murder

On the morning of February 12, 2005, Dorothy and Ciero woke up early to walk to a community meeting to speak about the rights for the Amazon. Ciero, the farmer Stang invited to the meeting, was going to be late because of some interruptions. As Ciero was a couple minutes away from Dorothy, he was able to see her but hid within the bushes from the two armed men. She progressed on and was blocked by the two men, Clodoaldo and Raifran. They asked if she had any weapons, and she claimed that the only weapon would be her bible. She then read a passage from the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." She continued a couple of steps but was suddenly stopped when Ciero called her, "Sister," as she was held at gun point by Raifran. As Clodoaldo approved of discharging at Dorothy, Raifran fired a round at Dorothy's abdomen. She fell face down on the ground. Raifran fired another round into Dorothy's back, then fired all four rounds into her head.^[1]

In June 2005, two men were charged with conspiracy to murder an American outside the United States in connection with her death. These men, Rayfran das Neves Sales and Clodoaldo Carlos Batista, were convicted on December 10, 2005.

On 15 May 2007, a court in the city of Belém sentenced Vitalmiro Bastos Moura, age 36, to the maximum term of 30 years in prison for paying gunmen to shoot Sister Dorothy. Stang's brother David, who was at the trial, said "justice was done." Rayfran das Neves Sales was retried on 22 October 2007. He was again found guilty, and a judge in Belém sentenced him to 27 years in prison–the same punishment as in the first trial in 2005. Prosecutors said Moura had ordered Stang's death because she had sent letters to the local authorities accusing Moura of setting illegal fires to clear land, which led to his receiving a substantial fine.

At a third trial, on 6 May 2008, Rayfran das Neves Sales was sentenced to 28 years in prison, and Vitalmiro Bastos Moura was declared innocent. Moura was set free because the gunman, Rayfran das Neves Sales, declared in court to have killed Dorothy Stang for personal motivation.

Regivaldo Pereira Galvão, a rancher suspected of ordering the killing, was arrested in December 2008 and was to be charged with the murder. He had been arrested previously for the murder but released.^[2]

On April 7, 2009, a Brazilian Court, in Pará, decided to make the third trial void. The same court decided to put Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura back in jail but Moura's lawyer declared to be ready for an appeal. A new trial is going to be scheduled.^[3][4] On April 22, 2009, STJ set Vitalmiro Moura free until a final decision about his request of Habeas corpus.^[5]

Roniery Lopes, a witness in the trial of Regivaldo Galvao for fraud was shot, just before he was to testify.^[6]