Elderly caregiver was arrested on January 8th while praying in Planalto

Just like housewife Jupira Silvana da Cruz Rodrigues — who had her story told by Gazeta do Povo last week — elderly caregiver and community worker Nilma Lacerda Alves was also sentenced to 14 years without any proof that she had damaged public property, participated in an armed criminal association or attempted to violently abolish the Democratic Rule of Law, as understood by the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes. Minister André Mendonça asked for his case to be highlighted, and a new trial will be scheduled soon.

In her report to Gazeta do Povo, she says that she was arrested while praying in the entrance hall of Palácio do Planalto and that she entered the place to protect herself from tear gas bombs, pepper spray and shots with rubber bullets. “I tried to leave three times, but we were trapped with bombs.”

A resident of the municipality of Barreiras (BA), Nilma has been a public servant for 20 years, selling semi-jewelry to increase her family income and taking care of an elderly woman on the weekends. As a result, she could not remain away from home for long and only arrived at the camp in Brasília on January 8th.

There, she reports that she went out with the others and went through the search with her bag loaded with four cereal bars, makeup and a panettone. “And I had my flag without a mast”, points out the woman, who followed the protesters towards Praça dos Três Poderes, as she did not know the place.

“So, when they started throwing bombs at us, I just ran to the first shelter I saw,” says the Bahian, noting that she stayed close to the entrance the entire time, escaping the shots and trying to avoid damaging public property. “I heard the sound of things breaking and I was shouting ‘don’t break it, don’t break it’, because that’s not why we went there.”

According to her, the palace’s windows were still intact, but began to be damaged by rubber bullets. “There was even a guy who put the Brazilian flag in front of the windows, asking the police to stop shooting,” she says. “We didn’t want anything destroyed.”

The community agent also reports that she tried to unstack chairs piled up at the palace door and that she even discouraged a man who wanted to throw boxes out of Planalto. “I held him back and told him not to throw anything. Then the boy took everything back.”

However, the rubber bullets and the war scenario continued and, as she was unable to leave the place, Nilma says she knelt down with her eyes closed and remained in prayer until she was arrested.

Seven months in prison and many traumas

In total, she spent seven months in the Federal District Women’s Penitentiary, known as Colmeia, where she was away from her only daughter and granddaughter, a six-month-old baby. “When I left home, my granddaughter started to crawl and was very close to me, but when I came back, she didn’t recognize me”, she laments, stating that this was just one of the consequences of her time in prison.

“Today I can no longer be around people, I can’t talk or work because I feel scared and can’t find the words, I have a psychological block due to everything I’ve experienced”, he told People’s Gazette, explaining that her family came together to pay for psychology and psychiatry sessions, and that she has already requested vacation pay and paid leave to use during treatment. “I have already taken the medical reports, but the city of Barreiras (BA) is not releasing them”, she laments.

According to her daughter Bruna Lacerda, her mother is not in a position to return to work due to the psychological condition she has presented since receiving provisional release, with an electronic ankle bracelet.

“She always walks with her head down and her hands behind her, as if she were still handcuffed, and is terrified of being alone with another person, even with the doctor during a consultation”, reported the young nurse during a live broadcast on the Dr channel Marcelo Suave, on YouTube.

“Sometimes, my mother is eating at home and starts crying because she remembers the spoiled food she had to eat in prison to avoid dying of hunger”, she continued, mentioning that, when she is in places with other people, she leans against on the wall so as not to obstruct anyone’s passage. “How is a good person, who has not committed any crime, going through this?” she asks.

“I have never been so humiliated”, reports the community agent

In an interview with People’s Gazette, Nilma tells, very emotional and trying to find the words, some scenes she experienced in prison. “The worst thing was waking up every day in there without having done anything wrong, an injustice that really affected my psychology, as I had never been so humiliated,” she said.

According to her, 164 Women arrested on January 8 spent weeks in a wing with only one toilet available and a single sink used to wash dishes, glasses, perform personal hygiene and drink water. “And even queuing was a source of fear,” she says.

One of the times she was in the check-in line with the prisoners, for example, she says she crossed her hands in front of her, “without realizing it, due to tiredness and anxiety”, and heard the prison officer say that, “next time If his hands weren’t behind his back, he would have been punished.” Nilma did not give details about the punishments.

The community worker also reported that she was cold in the penitentiary, especially during the early hours of the morning, when she needed to wash and dry the only change of clothes she had: a t-shirt and shorts. “Not to mention the countless nights without being able to sleep and the days without eating”, says the woman. “I never thought I would be so hungry.”

According to Nilma, the inmates received two lunch boxes daily, in addition to two “bisnaguinha-type” bread rolls and a piece of fruit measuring around three centimeters. “And, often, the food was sour, with hair, broken glass, stones and even animals”, reports the woman, who was used to finding three-centimeter lizards cooked alongside vegetables. “There was also a day when the lunch boxes were full of live larvae. How to eat that?”

The Bahian woman also said that many people felt unwell and it took hours and even days to receive care. “I fell in the bathroom myself and tore my hand because of the broken tiles, but I didn’t even ask for help because there was no point.”

Nilma wrote a diary on pieces of toilet paper

In an attempt to deal with the situation and remember details of what she was experiencing in prison, Nilma got a pen and wrote a diary on toilet paper rolls. In them, she mentions dates when her colleagues felt sick, shocking phrases she heard in prison, situations of intimidation and also how much she cried out to God to get out of there. “Sir, we are exhausted. Lord, mercy,” she wrote on one of the pages.

On another page, dated May 11, she writes about the long-awaited reunion with her daughter, after four months without contact. “What a thrill, what a good thing, Lord,” she wrote in the notes. “I wanted so much to go home with her”, he continued in small print, necessary to save paper. “It was only in the last few months that we started to get some bond paper to write on, and I cut it into smaller pieces.”

She awaits a new trial and calls for justice

Nilma was granted provisional freedom using an electronic ankle bracelet after seven months in prison. Her online trial at the STF began with the vote of Alexandre de Moraes, who sentenced her to 14 years in prison, but was interrupted thanks to a request from Minister André Mendonça for the evaluation of Nilma’s case to take place in person.

According to defense lawyer Hélio Junior, Nilma “never suffered any administrative process or disciplinary liability, nor did she face criminal proceedings”. “She is a good person who was arrested at Palácio do Planalto when she was still shouting at the vandals not to break public property”, says the lawyer, explaining that she and the other prisoners from 8/1 have been accused of multitudinous crimes, “who blame all the actions on all the people who were there”.

Therefore, Nilma asks that behaviors be individualized. “I’ve already paid a lot for things I didn’t do. So, I ask you to judge me by my actions and what I had in my possession,” she states. “I want to keep up with my granddaughter’s growth, without losing that and being arrested for something I didn’t commit”, she concludes.

A People’s Gazette contacted the Ministry of Human Rights (MDHC) regarding all the situations described by the interviewee and is awaiting a response. The newspaper also contacted Barreiras city hall to check whether the request for vacation and bonus leave would be accepted. The space remains open for responses.