A SECRETLY recorded police video leaked to the media has led to the firing of the officer in charge of the investigation into the alleged involvement of one of Brazil’s top football stars in the disappearance of a groupie.
In the video played on Sunday night to millions of Brazilians by the Rede Globo network, footballer Bruno Fernandes de Souza denied involvement in the disappearance of Eliza Samudio and instead pointed the finger of blame at his childhood friend, Luiz Henrique Romão. Both men, along with seven other people, are being held in connection with Ms Samudio’s disappearance. She was demanding Bruno acknowledge paternity of her four-month-old son when she disappeared in June. The goalkeeper admits he had sex with her at an orgy last year and was ready to acknowledge the child but denies killing her.
In the Globo clip, Bruno does not appear aware that he is being recorded as he speaks with officers during a flight on a police aircraft bringing him from Rio de Janeiro to his home city of Belo Horizonte. In formal police questioning, Bruno has said he will only answer questions from a judge.
Local legal experts say though there is no proof that media organizations pay corrupt police officers for information, the passing of depositions, recordings and forensic reports from investigations to the media is widespread in Brazil.
It is a crime for police to pass such information to the media, but it is not illegal for news organisations to broadcast or publish it.
“This is a total lack of ethics by Rede Globo,” says Dr Adilson Rocha of the Brazilian Order of Lawyers, the country’s main legal association. “They have not done anything illegal but it is certainly immoral. They are not just prejudicing this goalkeeper but the entire investigation. They are destroying the image of a person who could be innocent. Unfortunately we are a Third World country which still does not have a consolidated state of law and respect for human rights.”
As the captain of Flamengo, Brazil’s most popular club, Bruno’s case has generated huge media interest in Brazil. The police say a cousin of Bruno has testified that the player kidnapped Ms Samudio and brought her to a former police officer who strangled her, then fed her body to dogs. But eight police searches of the site of the alleged murder have yet to show any signs of any human remains.