Judge prohibits MT government from destroying agricultural machinery – 08/21/2023 – Environment

A judge from the region of Sinop (479 km from Cuiabá), a city that is one of the main agribusiness hubs in the country, prohibited the government of Mato Grosso from destroying agricultural machinery that was seized after having been used to commit environmental violations.

In a decision issued last Friday (18), judge Mirko Vincenzo Giannotte called rural producers “heroes of the resistance” and accepted the argument of the lawyers who filed the lawsuit that the destruction of equipment would be a “disproportionate measure”.

The measure applies to operations carried out by the State Secretariat for the Environment. In a note, the government of Mato Grosso reported that it will appeal the decision as soon as it is notified.

Due to its decision by the state court, the measure does not reach possible actions that are carried out by federal agencies such as Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources).

In justifying the decision, the magistrate defended that rural producers caught in state government operations should have the right to adversary proceedings and full defense in case of alleged environmental violations.

He also stated that, even if the illicit use of the equipment is proven, the government should not destroy the machine and, yes, incorporate it into the public power’s assets to use it in opening roads and planting in rural communities.

“How much a tractor like this is missing in ‘Gleba Mercedes’, in Paranorte, to the riverside people of the Pantanal, to the communities on the Serra da Petrolina lines, to the less privileged in the municipality of Rondolândia”, he said.

In his argument, the judge also compared environmental violations to operations to combat drug trafficking, in which seized goods are returned in case of proof of their lawful origin.

And he cited cases of seized vehicles that were incorporated into public property, the case of a Lamborghini that became a Federal Police vehicle and a Camaro that is part of the Federal Highway Police fleet.

In a note, the government of Mato Grosso reported that it only destroyed 3.4% of the total of 1,113 machines and vehicles seized between 2020 and 2023. It also said that it acts within the law and the destruction of equipment occurs in accordance with the Federal Law on Environmental Crimes.

The management of Governor Mauro Mendes (União Brasil) also pointed out that the destruction of equipment is only carried out in “cases of extreme necessity”, to avoid recurrence and continuity of use of machines to commit an environmental crime.

Destruction is also carried out when the location is difficult to access, without removal conditions, when violators make it difficult to remove the machines or if the safety of inspectors is at risk.