AP Exclusive: Peruvian loggers charged in Amazon deaths

FRANKLIN BRICEÑO Associated Press LIMA, Peru (AP) — Authorities in Peru have charged five men in the timber industry with the 2014 murders of four indigenous activists who had battled illegal logging in the Amazon jungle. Two timber executives and three loggers have been charged with the shooting deaths of the activists, prosecutor Otoniel Jara, who works in Peru's remote Ucayali region, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Environmentalists say the case is unprecedented in Peru, where years of illegal logging and, on occasion, suspected attacks by those carrying it out have often been met with an ineffectual response from authorities. "We hope that the legacy of the victims of this massacre can lead to justice," said Tom Bewick, of Rainforest Foundation US, a group that funded
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