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Furious Bolsonaro denies links to Brazil politician’s murder
BRASILIA, Oct 30, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – President Jair Bolsonaro angrily denied
links to last year’s assassination of a prominent Brazilian politician on
Wednesday, after reports that a suspect in the murder investigation visited
his residence before the killing.
Marielle Franco, a popular leftist city councillor in Rio de Janeiro, was
gunned down alongside her driver in March 2018 — a drive-by shooting that
investigators described as a “summary execution.”
One of the two suspects in the murder apparently published a photograph of
himself alongside Bolsonaro on his Facebook account, since deleted.
Meanwhile the other lived in the same Rio de Janeiro residential complex
as the president — links that the Brazilian police have dismissed as a
“coincidence.”
On Tuesday night, TV network Globo reported that the first suspect visited
the condominium building where Bolsonaro lived, telling the doorman he
intended to visit the then-presidential candidate.
The doorman then watched the man instead visit the home of the second
suspect, the broadcaster’s Jornal Nacional program reported, citing a leak
from the police investigation.
Bolsonaro hit back forcefully at the report during a 24-minute live
broadcast on YouTube early Wednesday from Saudi Arabia, where he is currently
on a diplomatic tour.
“I have no reason to kill anyone in Rio de Janeiro,” the president said,
appearing agitated and at times shouting through the recording, and accusing
Il Globo of “rotten and unscrupulous journalism”.
The tough-talking Bolsonaro frequently lambasts opponents or critics in
Brazil and abroad — including political leaders, activists and media outlets
— sometimes resorting to vulgar rhetoric to insult them.
Since taking power in January, Bolsonaro has been the target of massive
nationwide demonstrations over his policies ranging from education budget
cuts to a loosening of gun laws.
BSS/AFP/RY/1545 hrs