Lawyer cries, but STF condemns 8/1 defendant and imposes 17-year sentence again

The Federal Supreme Court (STF) concluded, on Thursday night (14), the third trial of a defendant accused of the acts of January 8th. Matheus Lima de Carvalho Lázaro, 24 years old, resident of Apucarana (PR), was sentenced to 17 years in prison, with a fine of R$44 thousand, in addition to another R$30 million, to be shared with other defendants who come to be condemned for the invasion and depredation of the headquarters of the Three Powers.

Like the other two others convicted by the Court in the case, he was found guilty of five crimes: attempted coup d’état, violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, criminal association, damage to Union assets and deterioration of listed assets.

In all cases, the majority of ministers followed the vote of the rapporteur, Alexandre de Moraes, when considering that the common objective of the crowd that vandalized Congress, the Palácio do Planalto and the STF was to depose President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and restrict or prevent the exercise of power by the Legislature and the Judiciary.

Matheus’ defense

Matheus was arrested in Praça do Buriti, about 4 kilometers from Praça dos Três Poderes. When defending him on the stand, lawyer Larissa Araújo cried a few times. She said that there was no proof that he had invaded and vandalized Congress, that he did not know exactly what a military intervention meant, and that he only communicated through messages with his wife what he witnessed the vandalization of the Legislative headquarters by other protesters. .

“Many people were caught, but what are the criteria for this process? If I ask, I believe none of your Excellencies can tell me. Nobody can say why it doesn’t exist. ‘I went with you, I kicked you out, I didn’t go, you get arrested’”, he said, pointing out the alleged randomness in the arrests of those present at the Esplanada dos Ministérios after the invasions.

Afterwards, he said he was “afraid”, citing difficulties in defending his client, without the possibility of having hearings in Alexandre de Moraes’ office and having his release requests analyzed by the minister.

“The OAB never spoke out to defend us. I don’t like politics, I always talk to everyone. So my crying here is not for the party, it is for my work, which is so undervalued that I don’t even know why I’m speaking here, if no one will listen to me. Oh how funny. That’s probably what everyone says inside [da prisão]: ‘the sentences are already ready’. Who doubts that? And today I once again confirmed it and I believe that they already are,” he said, referring to the likely conviction of the defendants.

Ministers were unanimous in their condemnation

The ministers, however, were unanimous in their condemnation. With the exception of Kassio Nunes Marques, who, as in the other cases, voted to condemn only two minor crimes (damage and deterioration), the others followed Moraes to convict for the most serious crimes, against the Democratic Rule of Law and criminal association.

Moraes began the vote by saying that Matheus’ case was the one with the most evidence. To do this, he presented photos and messages that he sent to the woman above the Congress marquee, and inside one of the unidentified palaces.

“It’s to break things down, to create disorder, I came to the army, sir. Mô, it ended peacefully, there is no such thing. They’re breaking… They broke… The media will now… film the parts that broke. They’re just breaking the parts they’re entering, you know? Here it is… There’s a painting worth millions. They’re not breaking, love. They keep breaking in to invade, after they invade, they stay inside,” she said, in audio.

“Because everything has to be broken, to have reform, to have war, love. War… For the Army to enter… understand? We have to do this so the army can enter, and everyone can be calm. The Army has to get in,” he stated in the same audio.

“It’s better for us to break everything here now and in practically a year, at most, or less than that, they will fix it, with the money that is ours, which they steal. It’s better for us to break everything now, than… than for them to take over the country, and turn it into Venezuela, and break up the country. It’s better for us to break Brasília alone, than for them to break the entire country, understand?”, he said in another audio.

Moraes and Gilmar Mendes highlighted that the protesters’ objective was to provoke a climate of conflict to force the government to decree a Law and Order Guarantee operation (GLO), carried out by the Armed Forces, so that the military would assume power.

“There is no doubt about the robust body of evidence. Here the criminal association became even more accentuated, from Paraná, 60 days ago in front of the barracks, here there is food, there is guidance, direction, everything has to be broken, military intervention, removing the democratically elected president so the country doesn’t turn into a Venezuela… There is no doubt that the defendant came from Paraná to Brasília to participate in criminal acts,” said Moraes.

Next steps for the STF

The STF must still judge another 229 defendants accused of the same crimes, all caught in the invasions. More than a thousand other defendants have their criminal proceedings suspended, because they will be able to accept an agreement proposed by the Attorney General’s Office to confess, pay a fine and avoid a criminal conviction. These are the accused who were camped at the Army HQ and were denounced for inciting the Armed Forces to create animosity with the powers and also for the crime of criminal association.