The Brazilian Supreme Court on Thursday decided to release Regivaldo Pereira Galvao, a farmer who was charged with the murder of the U.S. missionary nun Dorothy Stang.

The Supreme Court voted 3-2 to free Galvao, one of two ranchers accused of planning the Feb. 12, 2005 shooting of Stang in a land dispute in the Amazon rain forest.

Stang worked in sustainable development projects in Para, the second largest state of the Amazon rainforest region, and supported a group of more than 1,000 peasants who were in a land dispute with local farmers, among whom was Galvao.

Galvao had been held in jail for more than one year pending trial, after one of the men convicted of killing 73-year-old Stang linked him to the murder.

Three of the men charged in connection with the nun's murder have already been punished: Amair Feijoli da Cunha was sentenced to 18 years in jail, Rayfran das Neves Sales to 27 years and Clodoaldo Batista to 17 years.

The supreme court said in its statement that Galvao's pre-trial imprisonment was illegal because he did not pose a threat to society or a significant flight risk.

Emily Goldman, head of the NGO Robert F. Kennedy Memorial for Human Rights, which has been providing support to Stang's family since her death, feared that Galvao may flee or threaten or kill witnesses involved in the case.

The governor of Para had been warned that Dorothy Stang's life was at risk one month before she was shot seven times near a peasants' campsite.

The southern Para region is known throughout Brazil for its land-related violence. Over the past 20 years, more than 500 peasants, union leaders and activists have been shot dead in land disputes there.

Source: Xinhua