By Ben Tavener, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – At least eight police officers, including a commander, have now been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murder of Judge Patrícia Acioli. Lieutenant Colonel Cláudio Luiz Silva de Oliveira – former commander of São Gonçalo (7th) Military Police Battalion – was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday morning, reportedly accused of masterminding the judge’s assassination.
The former commander has been relieved of his duties and, according to a statement issued by the State Secretariat for Penitentiary Administration (SEAP), is being held with the other suspects in Rio’s Bangu 1 maximum security prison.
Judge Patrícia Acioli, at age 47, was gunned down outside her home on August 11, 2011 in Piratininga, an area of Niterói, in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro.
She was known for her tough stand against militia members and police corruption, and is one of three judges assassinated in Brazil in the past eight years, apparently related to their investigations into organized crime.
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