Lula mocks escape in Mossoró and suggests “connivance” of criminal agents

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) stated this Sunday morning that criminal police agents may have colluded with the prisoners who escaped from the maximum security federal penitentiary in Mossoró, in Rio Grande do Norte.

“We obviously want to know how these citizens dug a hole and no one saw it. All that was left was to hire an excavator. I don’t want to accuse, but, theoretically, it seems like there was collusion with someone in the system inside,” said the president.

On Saturday (17), the National Federation of Federal Criminal Police Officers (Fenasppen) denied that there had been any interference or “external support” in the escape, the two inmates are members of Comando Vermelho and suspicions were raised that the criminal organization was involved on the run. The Federation also stated that, if the involvement of agents in the escape is proven, it will be “necessary to cut one’s own flesh without the slightest corporatism.”

When asked about the escape in Mossoró, the first from a federal prison since the system began operating in 2006, Lula showed little patience, as he stated that the priority in the interview was matters related to his international trip to Africa. The president is in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on an official five-day trip to the African continent.

The representative also mentioned that the first inquiry to investigate the circumstances had already been opened by the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski. The portfolio holder will travel to Mossoró in order to follow the searches in person. The National Secretary for Penal Policies (Senappen), André Garcia, has already traveled to the municipality.

Lula also said that it is necessary to know whose omission was what allowed the escape, as there may have been relaxation. “I have to believe that an investigation, which is being carried out by the local police and the Federal Police, will tell us tomorrow or the day after tomorrow what happened in the Mossoró prison. This is the first time that someone has escaped from these prisons. This means that there could have been there was relaxation and we need to know by whom”, he stated.

In the early hours of Wednesday (14), Deibson Cabral do Nascimento and Rogério da Silva escaped from the maximum security federal penitentiary in Mossoró. The inmates had access to tools used in a prison renovation project and used them to break light fixtures and make a hole in the cell and escape into a service tunnel. Then, they broke through a metal fence and used pliers to cut fences and escape into the woods.

According to Lewandowski, in a press conference about the case, prison officers did not notice the movement, among other factors, because it was Carnival, from Tuesday (13) to Wednesday (14) “where, eventually, people were more relaxed, as is usually the case.”