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Gay-bashing skinheads to prison
14/02/2001 19:29 - (SA)
Sao Paulo, Brazil - After an 11-hour trial, a judge on Wednesday sentenced two members of a Neo-Nazi skinhead gang to 21 years in prison for beating a homosexual man to death in Sao Paulo.
In a 4-3 decision, the jury found Juliano Fillipini Sabino and Jose Nilson Pereira da Silva guilty of the murder of 35-year-old Edson Neris da Silva. Their attorney said she would appeal.
On February 6, 2000, Neris da Silva and his friend were walking near a downtown square when some 30 skinheads, armed with brass knuckles and chains, started chasing them.
The friend managed to get away, but the skinheads caught up with Neris da Silva and beat and kicked him for about 20 minutes, witnesses told police. Da Silva was rushed to a hospital but was dead on arrival.
A police patrol later arrested 18 skinheads - 16 men and two women - whom witnesses said had taken part in the beating.
Another six skinheads have also been charged with murder, a court official said. The remaining 10 will be tried on charges of forming a criminal association.
Sao Paulo skinheads, who flaunt swastikas and greet each other with stiff-armed fascist salutes, frequently target homosexuals, Jews, blacks and migrants from Brazil's impoverished northeast. - Sapa-AP
- SAPA
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