Rainha is a leader of the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) of Brazil. Rainha was accused of leading a land takeover in June 1989 and of being responsible for the death of the owner of the farm and one of his gunmen, a military police officer.

On June 3, 1989 approximately 100 families of landless workers peacefully occupied the abandoned farm Ipuera Plantation in the state of Espirito Santo. Two days later the landowner, José Machado Neto, came to the farm with the cop, Sergio Narciso. Both opened fire on the landless workers, injuring several of them. The workers defended themselves and in the shootout both the farmowner and cop were killed.

At the June 11 trial defense witnesses, including a colonel who is chief of security at the Military House and several elected officials, placed Rainha in another state from the one where the killings occurred. Video tapes and news clippings corroborated the testimony of defense witnesses.

The prosecution called no witnesses and relied on written statements from workers who had been held and tortured by the police. Without any proof against Rainha, the prosecution called on the lawyers for the landowner's family, who cried and dropped to their knees begging the jury to find the activist guilty.

Fourteen of the 21 members of the jury pool for the trial had ties with local landowners, and three were related to the landowner and cop who were killed. Rainha was found guilty by a 4-to-3 vote.

Several thousand people from throughout Brazil demonstrated outside the courthouse during the one-and-a-half- day trial demanding an end to the frame-up.

In a statement immediately after the trial the MST declared, "The decision of the court is a political decision. José Rainha was not condemned because of the charges put forward by the prosecution, since there was ample proof to the contrary. José Rainha was condemned because he participates in the MST (the Movement of Landless Rural Workers) and organizes workers in the fight for land reform."

Amnesty International and the Catholic Church in Brazil have denounced the guilty verdict.

According to the Catholic Church, 1,000 people have been killed since 1985 in violence related to unequal land distribution.

Twenty percent of Brazilians own 90 percent of the land while the poorest 40 percent own just 1 percent.

Under Brazilian law, anyone sentenced to more than 20 years in prison is automatically eligible for a second trial. Rainha remains free until this second hearing, set for September 16. The MST has called for rallies in Brazil to defend Rainha on that date. In addition, they are asking that messages of support be sent to:

Juiz de Pedro Canário, prédio do Fo'rum, CEP 29970-000. Pedro Canário, Espirito Santo, Brazil. Fax: (011) 55-27-764- 1478. Copies should be sent to: MST, Rua Ministro Godoy 1484, CEP 05015-900, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil. Fax: (011) 55-11-871- 4612.  
 
 
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