Cosud wants to reduce provisional freedom for serious crimes

The governors of the South and Southeast Integration Consortium (Cosud) articulate new legislation in the Chamber of Deputies to improve custody hearings. The main changes proposed are so that repeat offenders and perpetrators of serious crimes may have their arrest in flagrante delicto converted into preventive arrest at the custody hearing, a procedural instrument that determines that every arrestee in the act must be taken to the presence of the judicial authority, within 24 hours, so that it can assess the legality and need to maintain the arrest ..

As a group, the states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and São Paulo are deliberating with opposition parliamentarians on a bill to change some of the current rules for custody hearings.

The head of the Civil Police of Rio Grande do Sul, delegate Fernando Sodréresponsible for reading the governors’ letter of intent at the last Cosud, which took place at the beginning of this month, spoke with the People’s Gazette about the proposal.

“The conclusion is that we need to better regulate the custody hearing, especially in the requirements of provisional release for serious crimes and habitual criminals. Also allow the custody hearing to be held via videoconference, as this involves costs, staffing and vehicle travel. The solution involves drafting a bill to regulate custody hearings, establish clearer requirements regarding provisional release and restrict the release of habitual prisoners and perpetrators of violent crimes”, says Sodré.

The delegate emphasizes the problem of moving the prisoner to the custody hearing. “Obviously, it is not prohibiting the judge from doing it in person. If the judge understands that it is necessary, he will order the prisoner’s presentation. Brazil is very big, we have a prison in one place with districts in another, police stations in one place with districts in another, so this involves large expenses. If it were carried out in a suitable environment, such as a prison or police station, we would be able to solve a series of problems”, says Sodré.

Governors aim to combat organized crime

The report from People’s Gazette contacted the seven state governments that are part of Cosud to find out their position on the current custody hearing model.

In Santa Catarina, the deputy secretary of Public Security, colonel Flavio Graff, stated that the objective is not to end custody hearings, but to improve them. “For example, the review of the requirements for granting provisional release at a custody hearing in the case of serious crimes”, reiterated Graff.

The government of the state of Rio de Janeiro said that Cosud intends to strengthen the rules at the custody hearing. “The idea is to tighten the rules foreseen today for some cases, such as provisional release at a custody hearing.”

The government of Paraná stated that governors who are members of Cosud have been working to convert arrests in the act into preventive arrests during custody hearings. “The governors also propose that police officers have a guarantee of well-founded suspicion to carry out approaches and that repeat criminals can have their arrest in the act converted into preventative arrest at the custody hearing”, he responded in a note.

The governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), spoke about the topic to journalists on the closing day of the last Cosud meeting, on March 2. “The focus here is on violent crime, criminal organizations and the increase in the cost of crime. As we manage to formulate and present measures to the National Congress, for example, we will increase this cost to criminals. That we can review, for example , provisional freedom in custody hearings, always looking at the member of the criminal organization, focused on whoever produced the violent crime. We will always look at the one who is a repeat offender. This will bring peace to our citizens”, defended Tarcísio.

The governor of Espírito Santo, Renato Casagrande (PSB), highlighted the validity of the custody hearing undergoing constant improvements. “Custody hearings are very important and can always undergo improvements,” Casagrande told People’s Gazette.

The government of Minas Gerais, led by Romeu Zema (Novo), told reporters that it will not comment on the issue.

“Provisional freedom should be an exception”, says Jordy

Cosud governors have articulated the changes to the custody hearing with the leader of the opposition in the Chamber of Deputies, Carlos Jordy (PL-RJ).

“We are talking to governors and [Arthur] Lira (pp), president of the Chamber of Deputies), but there is still a lot to work on. There will be many discussions on the topic, before and after projects are presented. In this sense, we know that there will be a lot of resistance from the left. A working group will probably be created to discuss these matters”, said Jordy, in an interview with People’s Gazette.

“The custody hearing ends up being held in accordance with CNJ criteria and makes provisional release a rule, which should be the exception.”

Carlos Jordy, federal deputy (PL-RJ).

The leader of the opposition in the Chamber criticizes the criteria adopted by the National Council of Justice (CNJ) for the custody hearing. “Given that the CNJ believes that the prison system is overcrowded, the rule is to ensure that these prisoners receive restrictive measures, such as (electronic) ankle bracelets. The line that the governors will work on is that the criteria be more objective, that more serious crimes or repeat offenders reach a custody hearing, that there be a criterion for preventive detention in these cases, so that they are not put on the streets”, highlighted Jordy.

He defended the path as a way to reduce impunity. “I think these are the paths that we in the National Congress have to face to reduce this policy that has been made by the courts, placing criminals on the streets. And the police are doing the job of mopping up the ice”, he said.

Custody hearing was created with the aim of bringing more justice, argues lawyer

Created in 2015 by the CNJ, the custody hearing determines that every prisoner caught in the act must be taken to a judge within 24 hours, with the presence of a member of the Public Ministry (MP) and the prisoner’s defense team. The magistrate assesses the legality and need for continuing the prison or possibly granting freedom. Right now, The crime itself is not judged, only the act of arrest. The objective of the measure is to assess whether the prisoner needs to be kept in prison or whether he can be released for the crime.

Recently, after the release of recidivist criminals and perpetrators of serious crimes in custody hearings, the topic once again became the center of debate in the National Congress and in public security forums.

For the criminal lawyer Maurides Ribeiro, the custody hearing was a procedural advance in the country. “The custody hearing is an advance from a criminal point of view and constitutional guarantees in Brazil. I know that people are distressed by the issue of violence, but rule in our system, in the democratic state of law is freedom. The custody hearing is a measure to improve the system to find out whether the arrest was legitimate”, points out the criminalist.