Religious organizations, social activists and environmental groups welcomed the decision. Stang was murdered in one of the areas of Brazil with more land-related conflicts where, until now, impunity had become customary. Besides, this murder became a symbol of the struggle for land.

“Justice was served. My sister would be very happy because she believed in the Brazilian judicial system”, said David Stang, Dorothy´s brother, who lives in the US and travelled to Brazil to be present at the trial.

One of the judges said that Bida´s actions “are against human rational limits”, while describing the victim as a “helpless woman” who was murdered cowardly with six shots in the head.

The trial lasted fourteen hours, and now it is the turn of Regivaldo Pereira Galvao, also known as Taradao, who is accused of being Bida´s accomplice in this case. They were both in charge of hiring gunmen to commit the crime and promised them a reward in return, according to the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST).

Dorothy Stang was part of the Mission of Notre Dam Sisters from Namur and was admired by the people of Para for her work as a human rights activist. However, her presence was rejected by local ranchers because she reported the environmental crimes and abuses committed in Amazon fields.

Some time after her death, rancher Francisco Alberto de Castro, President of the Cattle Farmers Union of Para was consulted by Clarin newspaper from Argentina about the murder.

“They are turning a nun who invaded lands, a woman who generated chaos, into a martyr. She was the biggest problem of the region”, said Castro back then, as if he wanted her to “die again”, according to the journalist.

According to the newspaper article, the night of the murder the “rich people” from the region celebrated what had happened. This occurred in Anapu municipality, described by the journalist as a “no man´s land” where the prevailing law was that of guns.

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