Dino’s presence in a Chamber committee is marked by arguments

After failing to comply with two calls from the Public Security and Combating Organized Crime Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, responded to the invitation of the Financial Inspection and Control Commission of the same House to answer questions about the department’s actions in these ten months of government, as well as controversial situations led by the minister himself, such as going to an area dominated by drug trafficking in Complexo da Maré, in Rio de Janeiro.

Right at the beginning of the hearing, in response to the requests of the parliamentarians who led to the invitation, Flávio Dino repeated the versions already presented previously about measures adopted by the department against Big Techs and about not sharing all images with the CPMI of 8/1 of the Palace of Justice cameras.

The minister denied that he was imposing censorship on Big Techs and said that it was up to the Federal Police to collect the images necessary for the investigation.

Then, when answering questions from deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) about entering the Complexo da Maré, the minister denied that he had gone to the place without police protection, accused the opposition deputies of prejudice against the poor and threatened to take action against the parliamentarian within the scope of the internal regulations for alleged “insults”.

The president of the Commission, deputy Bia Kicis (PL-DF) reacted to Dino’s speech saying that it is up to her, and not the minister, to take measures that preserve the House’s rules during the hearing.

“You can let me, as president, look after (the rules). I didn’t see any insult here,” said Kicis. Dino retorted and complained about the commission president’s “interruption”.

The atmosphere became even more tense in the following minutes with government deputies trying to block any questioning about the minister’s previous absences from the Security Committee.

According to deputy Bia Kicis, the limitation on questions does not apply in cases where the hearing is by invitation.

As the arguments increased, the president of the commission raised her tone and said that the government officials were trying to create confusion to cause the minister to leave.

Deputy Evair Vieira (PP-ES) demanded the minister’s actions against factions in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Bahia. The parliamentarian also criticized the lack of collaboration between the Justice department and the 8/1 CPMI and said that Dino serves a government with a history of corruption.

The minister stated that he has already visited all the states, complained about the “corrupt” label given to Lula and blamed the “militias” for the rise in crime in Rio de Janeiro. In his response, the minister insinuated a connection between the former president, Jair Bolsonaro, and militiamen.

In defense of the minister, deputy Rubens Pereira (PT-MA) said that Dino’s actions at the head of the Justice department target the leaders of criminal organizations.

Finally, in response to deputy Kim Kataguiri (União-SP), who questioned the minister about the accumulation of positions and super salaries in the PT government, Flávio Dino avoided the question and said that he respects right-wing positions, but does not respect “criminal defenders , a militiaman, a gangster, a destroyer of the National Congress, the Supreme Court, the Planalto and an attempted coup d’état.”