Vol.63/No.45      December 20, 1999 
 
 
Brazil peasant leader faces retrial in frame-up 
{photo box} 
 
 
 
Photo Credit: Sem Terra 
 
The retrial of José Rainha, a leader of the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) in Brazil, is scheduled to open December 13. Rainha was convicted in 1997 on frame-up charges in the death of a landowner and cop during a 1989 land takeover by peasants in Pedro Canário, in the state of Espírito Santo, and sentenced to 26 and a half years in prison. He has been out of jail while awaiting the second trial. Rainha's defense campaign has won support in Brazil and around the world. Above, recent MST march in city of Marabá. Banner reads, "Occupy, resist, and produce," the slogan of the organization.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home