Brasília - David Stang, brother of the missionary, Dorothy Stang, who was assassinated in February in the town of Anapu (state of Pará), says that he is now confused because he thought the investigation into his sister's death had been completed. But at a meeting yesterday with the ministers of Justice, Marcio Thomaz Bastos, and Agrarian Development, Migues, Rossetto, he was informed that the investigation continues.

"We were in Belem (capital of the state of Pará) to see what the authorities had done. They did not give us any assistance, but we thought the investigation had been completed. Now we are in Brasilia and the ministers pat us on the back and assure us that justice will be done," he said.

A family lawyer, Brent Rushforth, says that it seems there are at least three more landowners who may have been involved in the Dorothy Stang crime. "The world is waiting to see if there is justice in Pará," he declared, adding that over the last 33 years a total of 772 rural workers have been killed in the region around Anapu, Pará, but only three landowners were ever actually charged with murder. Two of them have disappeared and the other one, the only one to go on trial, is serving a house arrest sentence in his comfortable home in Goiânia, capital of the state of Goias.

Dorothy Stang, an American nun from Ohio who had lived in Brazil for over 30 years, was a prominent activist in the Amazon region. She participated in the struggle for sustainable development in the Amazon rainforest, denouncing illegal lumbering operations, fraudulent land deals and violence against the poor rural workers. Up to now five men have been arrested for her murder. They are in jail in Belem.

Translator: Allen Bennett