Arrested with Bible in 8/1 is convicted of armed criminal association

Armed criminal association was one of the crimes for which Edinéia Paiva was sentenced to 17 years in prison, at the suggestion of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, in a virtual trial at the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The 38-year-old cleaning lady, mother of two children, one aged nine and the other aged 19, was arrested holding a rosary and a Bible while protecting herself from gas bombs during the events on January 8. The trial ended this Wednesday (17) (see at the end how the other ministers voted).

Before being arrested, Ednéia was under the ramp of the National Congress, in an attempt to protect herself from the gas bombs that were thrown to contain vandals who were destroying public buildings. That wasn’t her case. When she arrived at the Esplanada, shortly after participating in mass near the Army HQ, chaos had already ensued. “I jumped the ramp and I got stuck there. I couldn’t run. The only thing I remembered was to crouch down and stay there to protect myself, because there were a lot of bombs,” she reports.

“That’s where the policeman arrived, and he took me out by force, dragging me by my hair,” he says. Edinéia was handcuffed, while her bag was searched, according to her, aggressively by a DF military police officer. “Until then, I only had a Bible in my hand and a rosary”, she reinforces. In the vote of the reporting minister, Alexandre de Moraes, there is no mention of any type of bladed weapon found with the cleaning lady. In the document, there are only photos of knives and pieces of wood found with other protesters.

“The conviction of innocent people has a devastating impact on the lives of those affected. She could lose her freedom, her reputation and her livelihood and also bring suffering to her entire family”, considers Hélio Júnior, Edinéia’s defense lawyer. Hélio also claims that there are no criminal cases in her history.

Far from home

During the seven months she was in prison, she barely heard from her family. When she arrived, she found a husband depressed by the difficult days she had experienced. Without the money from Edinéia’s cleaning to supplement the household’s income, her husband worked hard making deliveries via iFood at times when he was not working formally, at a metallurgical factory. The sister also helped, holding a raffle with her friends to help her brother-in-law pay the bills that were falling behind.

The daughter had the support of the school’s teaching staff. For months, the girl spent class crying a lot. The school principal gave her a free pass to go to his office whenever she felt the need to talk. Before that, the girl studied at a municipal school, but afraid of the ideological indoctrination that Edinéia saw, she decided to work harder to place the girl in a private school. Just for the support received, according to her, the parents’ effort in paying school fees was worth it.

“I was scared, right? I went because my daughter is nine years old and I want a good future. I was afraid of the left coming in and doing what they’re doing”, she responds when asked what reason led her to attend HQ activities in Americana, a city where she lives located in the interior of São Paulo. Always, after work, she would go out to meet the group. It was then that she decided to come to Brasília to participate in the peaceful demonstrations that would take place in favor of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Wearing an electronic ankle bracelet, she returned to daily cleaning. With her time in prison, she lost clients who had already made new hires, but who referred her to other people.

Looking for psychological help

When he spoke to People’s Gazette, there were just a few hours left before the trial ended and Edinéia said she was apprehensive about what the future would hold. “The conviction is already there. It’s a fact. I’m waiting for God to move, because I haven’t done anything. Until then, speaking out is not a crime. At least it wasn’t,” she says. She adds, “I wonder how many demonstrations there were with deaths at other times and no one was arrested”.

The mother, who lives in the interior of Paraná and works in the fields, still doesn’t know about her daughter’s situation. This is because she suffers from high blood pressure and heart problems. Edinéia is afraid that the impact of the news could worsen her mother’s health. “She is full of plans wanting to come visit me at the end of the year, but she doesn’t even know anything. She asks and I disagree”, she confesses.

“He [Alexandre de Moraes] It’s giving me 17 years and I’m wondering why. Because I didn’t kill anyone, I didn’t steal, I didn’t do anything. Not even those who kill receive such a sentence,” she is indignant. She is looking for a psychologist to receive support to face the great possibility that she has of returning to prison.

How each minister voted

Armed criminal association, coup d’état, qualified damage, violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law and deterioration of listed heritage are the crimes attributed by Alexandre de Moraes (read the vote) to Edinéia. She was also ordered to share with other convicts the payment of R$30 million in collective moral damages.

For the minister, the “constitutional right to demonstrate could never be confused with evident adherence to a criminal act, which involved violence and extreme vandalism against public property, in addition to calls for military intervention and the fall of the elected government”. Moraes also states that the invasion took place due to “adhesion to the criminal purposes of the coup horde and not the intention to protect themselves or seek shelter”. In the vote, there is no evidence against Ednéia or any type of individualization of her conduct.

Alexandre de Moraes’ understanding was followed in full by Cármen Lúcia, Dias Toffoli, Gilmar Mendes and Luiz Fux. Ministers Cristiano Zanin and Edson Fachin only differed on the dosimetry of the sentence, suggesting 15 years.

André Mendonça (read vote) condemned the cleaning lady because he believed that she had committed the crime of trying to abolish the Democratic Rule of Law, “using violence or serious threat”, “preventing or restricting the exercise of constitutional powers” ​​(article 359- L of the Penal Code). For this crime, and absolving her of the others mentioned by Moraes, Mendonça suggested a total sentence of 4 years and two months.

The president of the STF Luís Roberto Barroso, on the contrary, acquitted Edneia of the same crime, accusing her of all the others, proposing a reduction of five years and six months from the 17-year sentence indicated by Moraes (making it 11 years and six months ).

Kassio Nunes Marques (read the vote) acquitted the cleaning lady of all crimes, with the exception of article 286 of the Penal Code, “publicly inciting the commission of a crime”. In practice, if Nunes Marques’ understanding prevailed, the cleaning lady would have already served her sentence for the months she was imprisoned in Brasília.

As there was a divergence of votes, the defense will appeal the decision to the STF itself.