Police violence against protests in Brazil are criticized

Photo: AP

Amnesty International (AI) and the Public Defender of Sao Paulo condemned the police violence with which were repressed demonstrators who protested last Thursday against the World Cup Brazil 2014.

“We showed ‘yellow card’ to the military police of Sao Paulo. The Brazilian authorities must immediately investigate why excessive force was used against peaceful demonstrators and those responsible should be brought to justice,” said the director of AI Brazil Átila Roque.

The public defender Pedro Estabile, who witnessed the demonstration held in the Carrao station of Sao Paulo, located 12 km from the stadium where Brazil and Croatia played on Thursday the opening match of the World Cup, said that the police action was “unacceptable”.

“I saw it all from the beginning. There is no arguments. The military police threw bombs against a group of youths who were peacefully demonstrating”, said Estabile.

Preliminary reports indicate that eleven people were injured, including six foreign reporters.