Brazil leader offers solace over man killed by London police
(AP)
Updated: 2005-07-28 11:22

Brazil's president on Wednesday expressed his condolences to the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian man shot dead by British police after being mistaken for a terror suspect in London.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke over the phone with Menezes' father and brother who live in the victim's hometown of Gonzaga, a statement released by the president's press office said.

Menezes, a 27-year-old electrician, was killed last Friday in a London subway station as police investigated a sequence of failed bombings.

Witnesses said plainclothes police chased him into a subway car, pinned him to the ground and shot him. Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder.

The killing sparked angry protests in Gonzaga, a small town some 400 miles southwest of Brasilia where it's common for young men to leave for the United States or Europe to finance a better life back home.

Gonzaga Mayor Julio Maria de Souza said by phone that Menezes' body was scheduled to arrive in Brazil on Thursday and be transferred to the city of Governador Valadares, some 60 miles from Gonzaga for burial.

In Sao Paulo, some 50 Brazilians prayed and placed two large funeral wreaths in front of the British consulate during a demonstration held Wednesday to protest Menezes' killing.

Organized by Forca Sindical, one of Brazil's largest trade union confederations, the protesters held up a sign that read, in English: "Immigrant is not Terrorist," and "We Demand Rigorous Certification of Jean's Death."

A group of labor leaders led by Forca Sindical's president Paulo Pereira da Silva also delivered a letter addressed to British Consul Andrew Henderson saying they "repudiate the assassination of a Brazilian worker ... in London" and demanding that those responsible be punished.

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