Brazilian
skinhead charged with stabbing gay man

Police in southern Brazil have arrested the alleged leader of a Nazi-sympathizing group of skinheads and his wife on attempted murder charges for stabbing a gay man, authorities said Thursday. A police statement said Eduardo Toniolo Del Segue, 25, and his wife, Edwiges Francis Barroso, 26, stabbed the man one month ago in Curitiba, some 220 miles southwest of Sao Paulo. The victim, who was treated and released shortly after the attack, did not manage to identify his assailants until Wednesday.

The group of neo-Nazi skinheads allegedly led by Del Segue had been under investigation for more than a month for attacking Jews, blacks, and gays. Pro-Nazi books, flags, and CDs were found in the couple's house, the statement said. "We can't allow this kind of conduct to establish itself in Curitiba," police official Marcus Vinicius Michelotto said in the statement.

Another nine members of the group were also arrested and charged with conspiracy and racism for speading antiblack and antigay propaganda. The promotion of racist ideas is a crime in Brazil and is punishable by up to three years in prison. Police are investigating possible links between the Curitiba group and skinhead groups in other parts of southern Brazil, including the state of Rio Grande do Sul, where three skinheads were arrested in May for allegedly punching, kicking, and stabbing three Jewish students. (AP)