Bolsonaristas press for the release of prisoners on 1/8 – 03/02/2023 – Politics

The recent release of 173 prisoners on suspicion of participating in the coup attacks on January 8 took place amid intense mobilization by the opposition to pressure the STF (Federal Supreme Court) for the release of the group.

Since the beginning of last month, Bolsonarist parliamentarians have been making trips to institutions so that at least people who did not directly participate in depredations at the headquarters of the Three Powers are released.

According to the Supreme Court, until this Wednesday (1st) there were still 767 suspects arrested due to the acts. Another 639 were released, but with restrictive measures such as the use of electronic anklets. The STF minister responsible for the case is Alexandre de Moraes.

In addition to meetings with different authorities, the mobilization of the group of parliamentarians included visits to the Papuda Penitentiary Complex, where the men are, and to the Female Penitentiary of the Federal District, known as Colmeia.

In early February, Senator Plínio Valério (PSDB-AM) inspected the prisons alongside a lawyer and an advisor. According to him, the intention was “to inspect the facilities of the prisons” and “the conditions of the prisoners”.

Soon after, Federal Deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) and Senator Cleitinho (Republicanos-MG) sought authorization to collect the testimony of six people arrested to “investigate accusations of alleged irregularities related to prisons”.

The criminal enforcement judge forwarded the request to the STF, stating that “it is not their responsibility, in this specific case, to carry out an investigation”, despite the importance of the positions they occupy.

In reaction to this election by the parliamentarians, Moraes stated in a decision that this type of demand should be made to him, and not to the Execution Court.

The DF Penitentiary Administration Secretariat then asked the minister for clarification on the entry of parliamentarians “who wish to verify the conditions of people arrested as a result of the aforementioned arrests”.

When responding to the request, Moraes ordered the court to suspend visits to prisoners for involvement in the acts; and said that “the entry of any person into the prison establishment, in relation to the aforementioned prisons, must be expressly and previously authorized” by him.

The decision caused revolt among parliamentarians, and the minister had to make a clarification. He stated that his determination dealt only with exceptional cases, such as “visits for academic research, visits for student research or press visits”.

In another movement, former ministers of Jair Bolsonaro who are now senators, such as Tereza Cristina (PP-MS), Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI), Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF) and Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), in addition to the former vice-president Hamilton Mourão (Republicanos-RS), met with authorities to discuss the matter.

There were meetings with the president of the OAB (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil), Beto Simonetti, with the head of the Public Defender’s Office of the Federal District, Celestino Chupel, and with representatives of the Public Defender’s Office of the Union.

They were also with the president of the STF, minister Rosa Weber, and the acting governor of the Federal District, Celina Leão (PP).

The meeting with the OAB took place on February 15, when Marinho and Tereza Cristina heard from the president of the entity that works to defend the rights of lawyers in the exercise of defending their clients.

There was also a meeting between Mourão, Marinho and Malta with Rosa Weber on the last 24th. On the occasion, the three asked her to mediate a meeting with Moraes on the subject.

“Our concern is the agility of the process. We all deplore what happened, but the fact is that there is a need, and we are going to try to talk to Minister Alexandre de Moraes”, said Marinho at the time.

The objective, according to him, is that “there is the individualization of crimes so that those who should not be able to be released and those who may have been caught in acts of depredation, barbarism, vandalism, can have their crimes imputed in time real and in the proper way”.

In addition to them, other parliamentarians began to increase the criticism for the so-called individualization of conduct, demanding agility in investigations.

Senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE) says that the parliamentarians were impacted by the situation of the prisoners after their visit to Papuda. He says that the State has not guaranteed respect for due process of law and adequate prison conditions.

“I think it’s a matter of compassion and humanity. Those who depreyed should be punished in an exemplary way, but we heard reports from people who arrived in Brasília after the acts. It is unacceptable to allow people who were not involved in acts of vandalism to be treated as criminals. “

Moraes went on to release a series of prisoners on Monday (27) and Tuesday (28). All were denounced by the PGR (Attorney General’s Office) for incitement to crime and criminal association. The suspects must submit a prior defense to the STF in the coming weeks.

The 173 released had been detained red-handed on the morning of January 9 in front of the army headquarters in Brasilia, where a camp had been set up after the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro.

As the investigations did not point out those accused as the main financiers or executors of the acts, Moraes understood that they will be able to answer freely. The minister also considered that most of them have the condition of first offender and minor children.

The STF and the PGR are still looking for solutions so that the hundreds of criminal actions against those suspected of participating in and encouraging the January 8 coup attacks do not impede the bodies’ work.

There is a consensus that, in any scenario, there will be an overload of services and a likely need to call in reinforcements.