As a soldier in a coup act can be held responsible – 02/05/2023 – Power

The participation of the military and police in the coup acts of January 8, in Brasília, reflects the politicization of the security forces during the administration of Jair Bolsonaro (PL). President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) reacted with a hundred dismissals of members of the Forces who acted in the government and demanded accountability.

Investigations into the attacks are being processed by the STF (Federal Supreme Court), under the report of Minister Alexandre de Moraes. A reserve soldier who participated in the invasion has already been indicted by the Army.

Eventual crimes committed by members of the Armed Forces must be judged by the Military Justice. Seven proceedings are underway at the Military Public Prosecutor’s Office and six military police inquiries are open to investigate possible crimes committed by the security forces.

In common law, both the military and the police may respond civilly for the damage caused.

Understand how members of the security forces can be held accountable:

What was the level of militarization of the Bolsonaro government?

The former president’s management had the greatest presence of uniforms in redemocratization. As shown to Sheetin November, according to data from the Ministry of Finance, 1,231 active members of the Armed Forces were requested and assigned to the Presidency, an increase of 20% compared to November 2018, at the end of the Michel Temer (MDB) administration.

In the Bolsonaro government, there were 2,187 military personnel in November, against 1,941 in the same period of 2018. The data does not include reserve military personnel, such as generals Augusto Heleno, Luiz Eduardo Ramos and Braga Netto.

In addition to the uniforms, Bolsonaro ended his term with 85 military police officers and firefighters from the Federal District required to work in the Presidency of the Republic, almost double in relation to the previous period.

What is known about the involvement of security forces in the attacks?

The Federal Police is investigating actions and omissions that allowed the invasion of the headquarters of the three Powers. The agents are working to identify whether GSI (Institutional Security Office) agents have allowed scammers to access the Planalto Palace. The body’s number 2, General Carlos José Russo Assumpção Penteado, was exonerated from his post.

Images show that members of the Military Police of the Federal District interacted with protesters and filmed the depredation. At the STF, police officers are suspected of giving way to the invasion of the court.

Failures in action motivated the federal government to intervene in public safety in the Federal District. Former PM commander Fabio Augusto Vieira was arrested by order of Moraes, as well as former Secretary of Public Security Anderson Torres.

In testimony, Vieira said that there was a major from the corporation’s reserve called Claudio Santos among the coup plotters. A survey by the newspaper O Globo points out that nine military police officers, from the DF and from three states, were involved in the attacks – seven of them were arrested.

According to the federal intervenor, Ricardo Capelli, there were failures by the Military Police that day and the abandonment of operations to demobilize the coup-mongering camp by the Army. Capelli said an intelligence report given to Torres pointed to the risk of invasion two days before the attacks. At the time, nine people from command posts of the Military Police were on vacation.

The Civil Police of the Federal District launched an internal investigation to identify and hold accountable any misconduct by police officers in the acts.

In the Armed Forces, commanders committed to punishing soldiers who participated in the actions. Subordinates analyze videos of the attacks to make the identification and open disciplinary administrative processes.

Reserve Colonel Adriano Camargo Testoni, who participated in the acts and attacked members of the High Command of the Force, was indicted by the Army and dismissed from the Armed Forces Hospital.

Retired sea and war captain Vilmar José Fortuna, who took pictures on the lawn of the National Congress after Bolsonaristas broke through the security barrier at the site, was also exonerated.

The Planalto Military Command, in turn, opened a procedure to investigate the conduct of the soldiers of the Presidential Guard Battalion who worked at the Planalto Palace. President Lula suspects that there was help in the invasion of the building. The crisis of confidence led to the resignation of the Army commander, General Júlio Cesar de Arruda, on the 21st.

Since the attacks, a hundred members of the forces have already been exonerated from the government.

Can military and security agents participate in political acts?

Political demonstrations by those who are active are prohibited by law. A Sheet revealed that, before the episode, at least eight active-duty military personnel assigned to the Presidency during the Bolsonaro administration attended acts in the anti-democratic camp of extremists set up, after the end of the election, in front of the Army headquarters, in Brasília.

In November, the Sheet revealed audios and videos in which the Navy soldier Ronaldo Ribeiro Travassos appeared in a message group encouraging demonstrations and saying that Lula would not take office on January 1st.

“Active military personnel must refrain from direct political engagement. They are part of a State instrument, so they place themselves above the partisan political game”, says Alcides Costa Vaz, professor at the Institute of International Relations at UnB (University of Brasília), citing former Health Minister and general Eduardo Pazuello, acquitted by the Army command after participating in a political act with Bolsonaro, in 2021.

In the case of the reserve military, the professor of the department of social sciences at UFSCar (Federal University of São Carlos) João Roberto Martins Filho says that there is no impediment, as long as participation is done in plain clothes, without wearing a uniform and without offending authorities and the Army.

The creation of the Truth Commission during Dilma Rousseff’s government is pointed out by Martins as the episode that triggered the return of demonstrations by senior military personnel in relation to the country’s political scenario, something that had not been seen since the Constituent Assembly.

“This reached a paroxysm when generals on active duty or recently retired began demonstrating in the 2018 election saying that it was a two-sided election and one had to choose one of them,” he says.

According to Capelli, politicization generated problems in the Military Police. During the attacks, then commander Fabio Augusto requested reinforcements and was not obeyed, he said.

What are the applicable punishments?

Political scientist and lawyer Erika Kubik, professor at UFF (Fluminense Federal University) and specialist in Military Justice, explains that only crimes against life committed by uniforms are judged by the common courts, the destination of cases against military police.

Once their participation is proven, the uniforms can answer both for crimes foreseen by the Penal Code, such as the abolition of the Rule of Law and coup d’état, and for specific crimes of the Military Penal Code, such as insubordination, disobedience and prevarication.

Professor of Brazilian studies at the University of Oklahoma and member of the Brazilian Public Security Forum Fábio de Sá e Silva says that such offenses can be applied against service members.

Those who participated in the acts during the day off can answer for group organization for the practice of violence and violation of the statute of the military.

Federal District and Territories Public Prosecutor Flávio Milhomem says that the investigations are ongoing and only after their conclusion will it be possible to point out possible crimes and seek criminal responsibility.

In the case of military police officers, Renato Sérgio de Lima, director-president of the Brazilian Public Security Forum, says that the punishment can range from imprisonment, if convicted in court, to expulsion from the corporation or lighter measures, as a warning.

The difficulty in punishing those involved, he says, lies in the discretion to determine the seriousness of the conduct. Furthermore, Lima points out that if there was massive participation of police officers, the problem is in charge and resolving this demands the creation of national public safety strategies.

Both the military and the MPs are civilly liable in ordinary courts for any damage caused.

What is the difference of the process in the Military Justice?

Erika Kubik states that in Military Justice there is, from the first instance, the escabinato, a technical term that means that the judgment is made by a group composed of civil and military judges, whose rank is always higher than that of the judged defendant. As it has a smaller volume of processes, the tendency is for cases to be analyzed more quickly, she says.

If the military is judged unworthy or receives a sentence of more than two years, he loses his rank and is expelled from the Force, says the professor, but the mere fact of being prosecuted in this sphere is enough to prevent evolution in the structure of the military career.

The lawyer claims to believe that there will be important punishments to serve as an example, but criticizes the lack of updating of the military penal legislation and the military statute, from the dictatorship era.

“The legislation that guides the action was minimally reformed for a democratic period, which is also the result of the lack of a transitional justice. for them,” he says.