Homeless man fought with Bolsonaristas in Papuda on 8/1 – 14/03/2024 – Power

The first defendant in the January 8 coup attacks, whose acquittal was defended by Minister Alexandre de Moraes and the majority of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), was imprisoned for almost 11 months at the Papuda Penitentiary Complex, in Brasília.

A homeless person, Geraldo Filipe da Silva, 27, was detained alongside the group that vandalized the headquarters of the three Powers and always said he arrived at the events that day out of curiosity, due to the helicopters flying over the square.

The STF formed a majority this Thursday (14) to acquit him. The trial in the court’s virtual plenary will conclude this Friday (15).

The score on Thursday night was 6-0 in favor of Geraldo’s acquittal — with the votes of Moraes, rapporteur of the process, Cristiano Zanin, Cármen Lúcia, Flávio Dino, Dias Toffoli and Luís Roberto Barroso. There are still five ministers to vote.

Until the conclusion of the virtual session, the trial can be interrupted by request for viewing (more time for analysis) or for highlighting (transfer to the court plenary).

As of this month, 116 people have been convicted of the attacks, with sentences ranging from 3 to 17 years. The PGR (Attorney General’s Office) filed at least 1,400 complaints against defendants.

Geraldo was denounced by the Prosecutor’s Office on charges of crimes such as attempted coup d’état, violent abolition of the democratic rule of law and armed criminal association.

He became a defendant after the Supreme Court accepted the complaint and was imprisoned until the last week of November in Papuda. In the penitentiary, he had clashes with Bolsonarista militants for saying that he was not a supporter of the former president.

The PGR itself reversed itself and asked for him to be acquitted, after a lawyer who voluntarily took on Geraldo’s defense pointed out that there is no evidence that he was part of the group that defended a coup d’état and destroyed public property.

Geraldo was arrested on the day of the attacks on suspicion of vandalizing a police vehicle in front of the National Congress. Those who pointed him out to the police as the author of the depredation, however, were other people who participated in the attacks.

When he was arrested, he said that he had eaten that day at a social assistance center in Asa Sul (neighborhood of Brasília) and that he approached the crowd by chance. He reported that he had lived in the Federal District for three years and that he had left Pernambuco after obtaining a loan from Auxílio Brasil.

He also said, in a statement to the Federal Police, that he initially arrived in Brasília because he was fleeing a criminal faction. His defense denies that this is true and claims that he suffers from mental disorders, claiming that he is also persecuted by other people.

When he arrived among the crowd in front of the headquarters of the three Powers, he was called by the protesters an infiltrator and a PT member. He was also threatened with beatings.

Geraldo did not carry knives or other weapons with him. He was arrested when he tried to escape from Praça dos Três Poderes, at that time already the scene of confrontation between security forces and protesters.

Two military police officers heard as witnesses confirmed that Geraldo was detained after “a group of people surrounded and attacked him”.

The lawyer who took on his case, Tanieli Telles de Camargo Padoan, pointed out that Geraldo does not appear in the video that shows the depredation of the police vehicle in front of Congress and that this was essential for the PGR to change its opinion.

“There is not enough evidence to allow us to affirm that the accused joined the masses, maliciously adhering to their objectives, with the intention of taking power and destroying the Palácio do Planalto, the National Congress and the Supreme Court”, said Moraes in his vote .

The lawyer claims to have met Geraldo at the end of April last year, in Papuda. She is from Santa Catarina and went to Brasília to defend other people from her region who were arrested on January 8th.

Tanieli says he “was faced with a horror scenario” at the time, with other people asking to be represented. The defender says she worked in approximately 140 cases on January 8th.

After taking on Geraldo’s defense, she sought contact with his family and managed to locate his mother, who lives in Fortaleza. In November, Geraldo was released after the imposition of precautionary measures, such as the use of an electronic ankle bracelet.

“He lives on the street. Where will he serve his house arrest? Where will he carry his ankle bracelet?”, says the lawyer, reporting questions that were raised at the time.

Tanieli set up a fund so that he could live in a studio apartment, but claims that Geraldo still had problems complying with the measures.

When he left prison, the lawyer also organized a small delegation to welcome him, because other prisoners are usually welcomed by their families. “When the Bolsonaristas left, everyone was having a party. And for Geraldo? Nobody, just us”, she says.

She criticizes the reasons that led the Attorney General’s Office to denounce those who were involved in the events of January 8th, and also to leave people like her client in prison.

“He was arrested because he was passing by Esplanada [dos Ministérios] and he was wearing black clothes. I didn’t have a cell phone, I didn’t have anything. He was barefoot, with his foot all busted up,” he says. “Geraldo never understood what the demonstration on the 8th was. He never found out, he was still beaten and arrested.”

Tanieli also criticizes what he considers to be the generic nature of the complaints. “Only the names change [dos acusados] and qualification. They are generic for all of them. There is no individualization in these complaints.”