The initial hearing in the Leandro Lo murder trial has now been delayed by over a month, and will take place on March 24th, 2023 instead. It’s sad news for the BJJ community, as many had been waiting to hear the outcome of the trial and discover whether or not justice would be served. The initial hearing was originally scheduled for February 3rd, 2023, but was delayed at the last moment. It’s taken months already, but many key figures in the BJJ community are still paying close attention to the Brazilian justice system to this day and hoping that the correct course of action is followed.
Leandro Lo was shot and killed in a nightclub in Sao Paulo, Brazil on the night of August 7th, 2022. He got into an altercation with Henrique Otavio Oliveira Velozo in the club and quickly restrained Velozo before releasing him and allowing him to continue with his night. Witness statements say that Velozo returned shortly afterward and shot Lo at close range, after which he was pronounced dead upon his arrival to hospital.
The news that the initial hearing in the Leandro Lo murder trial had been delayed until March 24th, 2023 was announced in a post to the official Instagram account of Instituto Leandro Lo. The initial announcement was in Portuguese, but below is a translation of the statement:
“Reassignment of the Hearing. Date March 24, 2023 at 1:30pm. At the request of the defence of the accused in the murder of Leandro Lo, claiming incompatibility of dates, because the causative, on this very day, will participate in a jury plenary in another district, the date was postponed.”
The post also included the following quote by Martin Luther King Jr. and it’s rather poignant given the circumstances surrounding the death of Leandro Lo and the news that the initial hearing for the murder trial has been delayed:
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere.”
Jitsmagazine will be following the news on the murder trial of Leandro Lo long after the initial hearing takes place, bringing you updates as and when they happen. The original post with the Portuguese statement can be seen below:
