Brazilian lawyer asks Uruguay for political asylum

Lawyer Eloísa Samy, accused of committing acts of violence during a protest, is at the General Consulate of Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro, and seeks political asylum in the neighboring country. She is among the 23 activists whose preventive detention was ruled last Friday (July 18) by a Rio de Janeiro court as part of a police investigation which resulted in charges of criminal conspiracy.

The announcement was made by the Institute of Defenders of Human Rights (“DDH”), an NGO of which Eloísa Samy is a member. According to DDH, the lawyer seeks asylum in an attempt to defend herself, at liberty, from the charges brought by the Public Prosecution Office.

According to DDH, military police agents are currently surrounding the Uruguayan Consulate, in south Rio de Janeiro.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira