Washington, USA - The United States has indicted two Brazilians in connection with the murder of US-born nun Dorothy Mae Stang, in the Amazon region of Brazil, the Justice Department said.
The two men charged in the February 12, 2005 killing -- Rayfran das Neves Sales, 28, and Clodoaldo Carlos Batista, 30 -- are also charged in Brazil for the murder and have been in the custody of authorities there since February.
"The three-count (US) indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia (Tuesday) charges both men with: conspiracy to murder a US national outside the United States; murder of a US national outside the United States; and using, carrying and discharging a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence," the Justice Department said.
"Sister Stang's murder was a tragic loss for Brazil, for the United States and for all humanity. We will not rest until all who participated in this brutal and cowardly crime are apprehended and brought to justice," US Attorney Kenneth Wainstein of the District of Columbia (Washington, DC)said.
Stang, 74, was a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame originally from Ohio. An agrarian reform activist, she had lived and worked as a missionary in Brazil for about 30 years.
"Stang's murder, allegedly by employees of a Brazilian land holder, is widely regarded as a direct response to her activism in advocating land reform and peasants' rights within the programs set forth by the Brazilian government," the department added.