Association of PMDF officers criticizes Moraes’ speech about commanders arrested by 8/1

The board of directors of the Association of Military Police Officers of the Federal District criticized the statement made by Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes regarding the actions of the PMDF colonels during the events of January 8th. In the trial this Thursday (14), during a discussion with minister André Mendonça, Moraes attributed part of the failure in Planalto’s security to the corporation commanders.

In a statement, the association demonstrated “astonishment and indignation at the words spoken” by the rapporteur. For the entity, Moraes “unequivocally demonstrated that, in his opinion, the PMDF Officers arrested, still under investigation, are guilty”. At the trial of the first defendant, Mendonça recalled that in events such as the 7th of September, when he served as Minister of Justice, he had a team of police officers from the National Force at his disposal to prevent possible invasion attempts.

“I was Minister of Justice. In all these movements of September 7th, as Minister of Justice, I was on duty, with a team at my disposal, either in the Ministry of Justice or with police officers from the National Force, who would arrive here in a few minutes, to prevent what happened. . I cannot understand, and there is also no answer, how the Palácio do Planalto was invaded, the way it was invaded. Your Excellency knows the rigor of vigilance and care that must be there”, said Mendonça.

The rapporteur interrupted him and pointed out that the invasion would have occurred due to the failure of the PMDF colonels, who would have agreed not to react to a possible invasion. “The investigations clearly show why there was this facility [de invasão do Planalto]. Five PM colonels are in prison, precisely because since the end of the elections, they communicated via ‘zap’ saying exactly that they would prepare a way so that, in the event of a demonstration, the Military Police would not react. I was also Minister of Justice and we both know that the Minister of Justice cannot use the National Force if there is no authorization from the Federal District government, because this violates the federative principle”, countered Moraes. The two continued arguing, but a few minutes later, the rapporteur apologized to Mendonça.

The association stated that the minister’s speech “demonstrates much more of an inquisition, without the right to defense, of the accused”. “Such positioning violates the basic principles of Brazilian Law and demonstrates much more an inquisition, without the right of defense, of the accused. The individualization of conduct is not even being taken into consideration. This fact, in itself, would give rise to the declaration of suspicion of the magistrate regarding the trial of the Officers. ASOF is, once again, publicly calling for justice and impartiality in the case”, says the statement released by the entity on Thursday (14).

The Federal Police arrested the general commander of the Military Police of the Federal District, Colonel Klepter Rosa Gonçalves, for alleged failure to contain the acts of January 8; the former PMDF commander, Fabio Augusto Vieira; the former operations commander (DOP), Jorge Eduardo Naime Barreto; the former interim head of the DOP, Paulo Ferreira de Souza Bezerra; Marcelo Casimiro Rodrigues, former commander of the 1st Regional Policing Command; Major Flávio Silvestre de Alencar and Lieutenant Rafael Pereira Martins.