A Brazilian judge has been shot dead in Rio de Janeiro State.
According to officials, Brazilian judge Patricia Acioli was shot down outside her home in the city of Niteroi on Thursday night by masked men riding on two motorbikes.
Acioli had made a name for herself by being tough on gangs in Brazil as well as the corrupt officers. Her family says the judge received a constant barrage of death threats but never once opted to be placed under police protection.
Witnesses reports say the assassins intercepted the judge’s car as she was arriving at her home in Niteroi, just across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro.
The gunmen fired at least 16 shots, killing Patricia instantly. Her funeral service was held on Friday in Niteroi. Brazil’s Supreme Court condemned the killing as an attack on democracy and the rule of law.
Cezar Peluso, the President of the Supreme Court of Brazil, released a statement saying “Cowardly crimes against magistrates are an attack on the independence of the judiciary, the state and Brazilian democracy. The preservation of the rule of law in our country demands a rapid investigation of the facts and a rigorous punishment of those responsible for this barbarous act.”
Rio has stepped up its campaign against gangs ahead of hosting football’s World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016,
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