A prominent judge from the corruption-stricken Brazilian state of Espirito Santo was gunned down Monday, 14 days after another judge was killed in a similar fashion. Organized-crime Judge Alexandre Martins de Castro Filho was ambushed in the capital of the eastern Brazilian state. Four suspects are in custody for the killing of the 32-year-old judge. Their names have not been released, but authorities in the state say they were being interrogated by the police. A Brazilian news source reported that one of the suspects is a federal policeman from Sao Paulo state. The slaying of Castro Filho came two weeks after Judge Antonio Jose Machado Dias was gunned down in Sao Paulo state. Dias had been overseeing the security at a prison where one of the nation’s most notorious drug lords was being held. Monday’s killing prompted reactions from top officials in Brazil including President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who promised to ratchet up his war against organized crime. The president, who assumed office on Jan. 1, campaigned on a pledge to crack down on rampant violence in Brazil though he appears to have had little success during his three months in office. Full Story
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