Brazilian police evict occupiers from governor's grounds

The Brazilian police evicted Tuesday a group of protesters who have been camping outside the governor's residence in Rio de Janeiro state for 10 days, local media reported. The move comes amid a wave of anti-government protests which have been spreading in Brazil since June 10. The police officers arrived early Tuesday at the governor's grounds, where since June 21 some 20 people have been occupying the entrance to Gov. Sergio Cabral's home in Rio's most posh neighborhood Leblon. Several of the occupiers, who like protesters throughout Brazil have been demanding better public services and an end to government corruption, told reporters that the police arrived early in the morning when all of them were asleep and used rough tactics to expel them from the property. "They tore down our tents and didn't give us time to do anything," Luiza Dreyer told a local television channel, adding that a protester who tried to resist the eviction was detained for several hours and will be charged with "disobeying authority". Dreyer said the officers confiscated all the belongings of the protesters and took them to a police station. More than a million Brazilians have joined protests initially sparked by a transit fare hike amid massive public spending on international sporting events such as the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. The demonstrations have led President Dilma Rousseff to call for a referendum on political reform.