Fearless About Jailing Rogue Police, Brazil Judge Was Slain in Hail of Police-Issue Bullets
When a rogue police officer needed to be dealt with, Judge Patricia Acioli was fearless about wielding a heavy hammer.
She jailed more than 60, most for murder, reports the Associated Press.
Now she has been shot to death, in a hail of 21 police-issue bullets, in front of her home, as masked gunmen ambushed her car, according to the Windsor Star. Three military police officers have been charged with her August murder, the first slaying of a judge in the Rio de Janeiro state’s history.
The murder was “a wound to the lawful state, to democracy; the figure of the judge is a symbol of justice,” said retired judge Denise Frossard, who herself survived three assassination attempts. “If she is a judge and can be killed, how can a citizen feel secure enough to be a witness?”
Additional coverage:
BBC News: “Brazil judge Patricia Acioli shot dead in Niteroi”
Rio Times: “Rio Reacts to Murder of Judge Patrícia Acioli”
