Filipe Martins’ arrest lacks justification, say jurists

Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), ordered the arrest of the former advisor for International Affairs to former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Filipe Martins, due to a trip that never took place. The decision also cites other arguments that, according to jurists interviewed by Gazeta do Povo, lack justification.

According to the doctor in State Law, Rodrigo Chemim, the minister points out in the decision that the preventive detention of the former advisor is necessary to guarantee public order and promote criminal investigation, preventing the person being investigated from altering any evidence. However, the expert characterized as “superficial” the suggestion that Filipe could compromise the production of evidence if he remained free during the process, and stated that he did not find any argument in the document regarding the guarantee of public order.

“According to prevailing jurisprudence, it is understood that it is possible to preventively arrest someone to avoid repeating criminal behavior”, explains Chemim. “But this occurs when there is some concrete data that shows a high probability of this criminal reiteration, and in the decision I did not see any argument along these lines”, adds the expert, who is a professor of Criminal Procedure at Universidade Positivo (UP).

According to Filipe Martins’ defense, the former advisor no longer holds a public position or influence, and has already had assets seized during the investigation. “Cellphones, tablets and other items were captured”, points out lawyer Ricardo Scheiffer, also mentioning that Martins spontaneously gave his statement to the Federal Police (PF) and did not fail to fulfill his obligations before the Court.

Defense presented proof that the trip mentioned in the decision never existed

Furthermore, the main argument used to justify the arrest is that Filipe Martins’ name appears on the list of passengers who traveled aboard the presidential plane with Bolsonaro on December 30, 2022 heading to Orlando, in the United States, without formal records. of his exit or entry into Brazilian immigration control.

This list, according to the PF Representation, would indicate a possible evasion of the former advisor from the country “to avoid possible criminal liability”, as his location would be “uncertain”. However, on February 19, the defense presented a series of documents from the former advisor that contradict the claim of alleged escape.

“We show the airline tickets from Brasília to Curitiba in his and his wife’s name, dated December 31, 2022, as well as proof of the luggage they checked in, and the confirmation message from the airline”, informs the lawyer, citing further that the PF arrested him at his relatives’ house in Ponta Grossa. “So his location was not ‘uncertain,’ as the arrest decision describes.”

“It is necessary to review the prison”, say jurists

For jurists interviewed by Gazeta do Povo, this shows that keeping the former advisor in preventive custody is illegal. “If the defense demonstrates that the data that supported the decision are wrong, it is necessary to review the arrest”, points out Maurício Zanoide de Moraes, professor of Criminal Procedure at USP and author of several books on Criminal Law.

Like him, the doctor in Criminal Procedural Law, Gustavo Henrique Badaró, confirms that premises used for preventive detention need to be proven to keep the individual in prison. “If it is shown that this premise is false and there is no other basis, the normal thing is that the judge ends up revoking the arrest, which was wrongly ordered”, he points out.

Furthermore, lawyer and professor Gauthama Fornaciari, who has worked as a criminal lawyer for 20 years, guarantees that “arrest is illegal, as precautionary measures other than imprisonment should be applied”, as described in Law 12,403.

“Certainly, any of the measures envisaged, together or separately, are sufficient to ensure criminal prosecution or possible risk of escape”, he informs, citing all the possibilities provided for in Article 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CPP).

Filipe Martins remains in prison

According to the former advisor’s defense, this Friday (1st), the arrest has not yet been revoked, and Filipe Martins remains in the Penal Medical Complex (CMA), in Pinhais, Paraná, where criminals convicted of rape, murder are imprisoned. and other crimes.