Flávio Dino provides clarification at a hearing in the Chamber

The Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, appeared at the Chamber of Deputies this Tuesday afternoon (28), in a hearing at the Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Commission (CCJ). The minister’s departure took place after the approval of requests by parliamentarians from the opposition to the Lula government, such as Caroline de Toni (PL-SC) and Carlos Jordy (PL-RJ), leader of the opposition in the legislative house. Some government deputies also voted positively to the request.

Dino was questioned by parliamentarians on three topics agreed upon in the approved applications: the actions taken by the government within the scope of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) after the attacks that took place on January 8; the controversial visit that the minister made to Complexo da Maré on the last 13th; and restrictions implemented by the federal government on gun control policy.

During the questions, the minister was accused by opposition parliamentarians of omission regarding the attacks on the buildings of the Three Powers on January 8 for allegedly not having acted with the federal apparatus to prevent the depredations. The deputies alleged that the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) delivered a report to various executive bodies, which would have allowed the government to know in advance about the attacks.

The deputies also took the opportunity to question the policy of restricting access to legal weapons, highlighting the economic impacts of the measure – such as mass layoffs and the closure of companies – and to raise various questions regarding the context in which Flávio Dino and his entourage visited the city. Tide . There were also criticisms of the MJSP’s lack of combativeness against organized crime in the first months of the government.

In response, Dino claimed that he had not received information from Abin about the attacks on the Three Powers; attributed responsibility for the success of the depredations solely to the Military Police of the Federal District; and he avoided answering questions about possible authorization from drug trafficking leaders for his visit to Complexo da Maré. For the minister, the criticisms of his visit to the site have to do with “prejudice against communities on the periphery”.

As for disarmament policies, Flávio Dino suggested that in previous years the CACs (hunters, shooters and collectors) would be selling weapons to the PCC and the Red Command – in a rare mention of the names of the factions, which is commonly avoided by the minister.

The minister abused ironies and mockery in most of the responses, which generated one of the many arguments between those present and resulted in criticism from deputies in their speech spaces. In all, 107 parliamentarians signed up to participate in the hearing with questions to the minister. He, however, claimed agenda unavailability and ended his participation without hearing questions from all deputies.

Depredations to the buildings of the Three Powers

In his initial presentation, before the questions, the minister said that he had not received information from Abin about the imminence of the attacks and stated that security at the site of the attacks was the responsibility of the military police, which is managed by the state. “The military police of the Federal District unfortunately did not comply with what was written in the operational planning of the Secretariat of Security of the Federal District”, he said, denying an omission on the part of the government.

One of the first to address the way the government dealt with the acts of January 8, congresswoman Caroline e Toni (PL-SC) mentioned a report by Folha de S. Paulo which states that Abin produced several warnings about imminent risks of attacks on public buildings on the eve of the acts. Dino avoided giving further explanations and said that “the Sheet did not state that I received the report from Abin”. He further stated that the Institutional Security Office is not under the authority of the MJSP.

Ahead, other deputies insisted on the issue. Deputy Captain Alberto Neto (PL/AM) read an excerpt from the report by Folha de S. Paulo
and again questioned the minister. “The Sisbin system [Sistema Brasileiro de
Inteligência] distributed the report to 48 bodies in 16 different ministries. It is very difficult to believe your Excellency that you did not have access to this report. It is very complicated to have a Minister of Justice who did not have access to the intelligence report of something so serious”.

Dino countered: “This mythical extraordinary report that I don’t know about, neither you nor anyone else, didn’t reach me. I really don’t know Sisbin’s operating conditions and it’s not an area that concerns me”, he declared.

Deputy Kim Kataguiri (União-SP) resumed the theme and reinforced the questions about possible omission by the government. “Your Excellency said that you read the article [da Folha de S. Paulo] and did not find the ministry in the matter. But the fact is that it talks about Sisbin, and one of the members of Sisbin is the Ministry of Justice,” said Kataguiri. “Therefore, says the article, the ministry commanded by your excellency was warned yes”, continued the deputy.

The deputy also asked why the Army’s Presidential Guard Battalion – responsible for the security and protection of the building – was dismissed by the government with the information from the Abin report in hand. Dino ignored the question and used part of the response time to talk about social media regulation.

Opposition parliamentarians also inquired about the fact that federal intervention in public security in Rio Grande do Norte had not been declared in the face of the wave of attacks orchestrated by criminal factions that began on the 14th, in the same way as was done in the Federal District after the violent protests. of the 8th of January. “There is no reason for any extreme measures at this time, and that is the reason why it hasn’t happened yet,” Dino replied.

Finally, congresswoman Julia Zanatta (PL-SC) said that lawyers for prisoners suspected of participating in the acts of January 8 are not having access to internal images of the Planalto Palace due to the secrecy imposed by Lula. The measure, according to her, would be making it difficult to identify who actually vandalized the buildings and to individualize the conduct of those who did not participate in the acts. Due to the format of the hearing, many of the questions, like this one, were not answered.

Visit to Complexo da Maré

Addressing his trip to Complexo da Maré, in Rio de Janeiro, Flávio Dino argued that the criticisms were “outlandish”. The area, made up of 16 slums with around 140,000 inhabitants, has its territory divided between the Red Command and the Third Command Puro (TCP) factions and is a place that is especially hostile to authorities in theory linked to public security, as is the case from dino.

The minister avoided explaining the conditions under which he entered a troubled area without carrying out a police operation and attributed the allegations of alleged permission from organized crime for his entry to prejudice against poor populations. “A vile attempt to criminalize not the Minister of Justice, but to criminalize that population,” he said. He also stated that the operation was previously communicated to the state police and the PF and PRF.

“In the past decade, the pacifying police needed around 1,200 police officers to enter Maré. So it is logical that with the invitation there was an arrangement, an agreement, an authorization from those who command that location”, claimed Deputy Delegado Ramagem (PL-RJ). Dino replied: “I was invited by some entities, I communicated to the public security system in Rio de Janeiro and the federal government and the visit was carried out normally. It is astonishing to me that this has generated such a controversy.”

Faced with statements by the minister that the place would be easily accessible, without a wide restrictive domain by the factions, deputy Alfredo Gaspar (União-AL) asked if Dino would guarantee the lives of those who enter Maré the way he entered “ in that region that you are saying is so peaceful”.

Gaspar also asked the minister about his agreement with requests made in the STF by the PT together with an NGO in Rio de Janeiro that asks for the revocation of the ordinance that annulled intimate visits to detainees in maximum security prisons, where the main faction leaders are kept. criminals. Dino avoided answering his position regarding the request and limited himself to saying that the action was extinguished by the STF.

Finally, deputy André Fernandes (PL-CE) cited episodes that, according to him, would suggest a link between the PT and the PCC, such as a telephone conversation intercepted by the PF in 2019 between leaders of the faction, who said there was a “critical dialogue” between the Party and the CCP; and the content of Marcos Valério’s accusation, released last year, which detailed an alleged illegal funding of funds for PT members. In response, Dino said that the deputy “narrated past facts, at the time that I was not Minister of Justice”, and labeled the alleged connection between the PT and the PCC as “scumbag”.

Dino was finally confronted about the criminalization of opinions for having sued deputies, with parliamentary immunity, who questioned his trip to Complexo da Maré. “You cannot violate the prerogatives of parliament by wanting to censor what is sacred, which is speech”, said congresswoman Caroline de Toni. In response, Flávio Dino said that parliamentary immunity cannot be distorted and that the statements by opposition parliamentarians would be “abusive”.

Weapon Restriction Policies

Regarding the disarmament policies of the Lula government, Dino said that the measure has to do with the understanding of STF ministers in favor of restricting access to weapons and that in the past part of the CACs would be “selling weapons to the PCC and to the Red Command”. . He said that’s why the government decided to “close the doors to the commission of crime”.

The minister also stated that he accepted suggestions from pro-gun deputies, and that the result of this is a decree to be released this Wednesday. “There is no extremism on our part regarding this issue. There is a fundamental principle: responsible arms control, no more ‘general release’. Another need: to comply with the decision of the Supreme Court. But we are open, like this meeting”.

Regarding the new regulation currently being debated by the Working Group created for this purpose, the minister stated that the result will be “a mediation between the various values ​​existing in society”. “We don’t want to impose our agenda, but we don’t accept anyone imposing theirs on us, because we won the election,” he declared.