Brazilian authorities have freed a rancher convicted of masterminding the murder of Sr Dorothy Stang pending an appeal of his 30 year sentence. Judge Maria de Nazare Gouveia ordered Regivaldo Galvao freed after deciding he does not represent a flight risk, court spokesman Linomar Bahia said by telephone from the northern jungle state of Para, the Washington Post reports.
Bahia said he did not know how long the appeals process would take.
Prosecutors have said Galvao - the last of five defendants to stand trial in the case - helped orchestrate Stang’s killing in 2005 because she blocked him and another rancher from taking land the government had given to poor farmers.
A jury convicted Galvao on May 1, and the judge sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
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