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Brazilian accused of firebombing 'gay Jesus film' office requests asylum in Russia

The man left Brazil after committing the crime and was found in Moscow, where he lived with the mother of his child, the Globo newspaper reported

Police cars in Rio de Janeiro AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo

Police cars in Rio de Janeiro

© AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo

YEKATERINBURG, December 2. /TASS/. Brazilian citizen Eduardo Fauzi, arrested in Russia and accused in his homeland of attacking a movie company in Rio de Janeiro last December after it made a film depicting Jesus as gay, has asked for political asylum in Russia, his lawyer Vitaly Chernykh told TASS.

After being arrested in absentia by the Rio de Janeiro Court in December 2019, the man was placed on Interpol's wanted list. Fauzi left Brazil after committing the crime and was found in Moscow, where he lived with the mother of his child, the Globo newspaper reported.

"The application [for political asylum] has been accepted, it will take three months to consider it. He was told that the response would be given by February 23. <...> Brazil plans to send an extradition request, we have not received it in full and detailed form yet. Meanwhile, we must understand that the treaty between Russia and Brazil stipulates a three-month period for such communication, hence, he was detained on September 4, so this term expires on December 3," Chernykh said.

According to the lawyer, Fauzi is charged with attempted murder in Brazil. "It was 4 o'clock in the morning, there was no one in the building, except for the guard, who was able to leave the studio from any exit. Fauzi is the only one charged with attempted murder, while the others who threw [Molotov cocktail] bottles are just witnesses in the case. So, according to investigators, they attempted to kill the guard, but they did not even know he was there. <...> It was a demarche and an act of hooliganism," Chernykh explained.

Five people attacked the Porta dos Fundos studio in Rio de Janeiro on December 24, 2019, on Christmas eve, throwing Molotov cocktails at the door. The crime caused a wide public outcry. This attack came after comedy group Porta dos Fundos had released a short film portraying Jesus as gay. Fauzi was arrested by the Leninsky District Court of Russia’s Urals city of Yekaterinburg on November 19. The Sverdlovsk Regional Court upheld the extension of his arrest until March 6.

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