Sian Phillips, sister of British journalist Dom Phillips, speaks to the press next to his widow, Alessandra Sampaio, and friends during his funeral on June 26. Photo: Luciola Villela/AFP via Getty Images
A funeral was held Sunday at a cemetery outside Rio de Janeiro for British journalist Dom Phillips, who was killed in Brazil this month alongside Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, AP reported.
Driving the news: A suspect confessed to the killing and led police to a site with human remains, bringing an end to a 10-day-long search that was launched when the two men went missing.
- Phillips, a contributor to The Guardian and the Washington Post, was in Brazil working on a book on sustainable development.
What they're saying: "I would like to express my eternal gratitude to the Indigenous peoples, who are with us as loyal guardians of life, justice and our forests,” Phillips’ wife, Alessandra Sampaio, said at the cemetery, per AP.
- “Today, Dom will be cremated in Brazil, the country he loved, his chosen home. Today is a day of mourning," she added.
- “He was killed because he tried to tell the world what was happening to the rainforest and its inhabitants,” his sister, Sian Phillips, said, the Guardian reported.
- “His mission clashed with the interests of individuals who are determined to exploit the Amazon rainforest regardless of the destructive impact of their illegal activities," she added.
- “Dom Phillips was a brave, passionate journalist who died doing a thing he loved – seeking out and exposing wrongdoing," Katharine Viner, Guardian editor-in-chief, said, per the Guardian.