Military and police are investigated for the acts of January 8

In addition to being investigated by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the acts of vandalism on January 8 in Brasília are also being investigated on two other fronts. An investigation is being conducted by the Military Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPM), and is targeting the participation of members of the Armed Forces in the act that resulted in the depredation of the headquarters of the three branches of government. On the other front, the Public Ministry of the Federal District and Territories (MPDFT) investigates alleged connivance and omission by military police and possible participation of civil police in the invasion and depredation of public property.

Both the MPM and the MPDFT have already started preliminary investigations on January 8th. Almost all of them are in the initial phase, of gathering information, and only after gathering evidence can they result in formal accusations being presented to military or ordinary justice.

In the case of members of the Armed Forces, procedures are already in place to verify which military personnel may have directly participated in the demonstration, especially reservists; to find out whether there was connivance on their part, they facilitated the invasions; and another specific one to check the performance of a special battalion that takes care of the Planalto Palace.

All investigations are conducted in secrecy of Justice and there is still no knowledge about the possible investigation into a high-ranking military man, such as an Army general. In theory, an officer of that rank is accountable to the Superior Military Court (STM). But it is possible that it could also be investigated directly in the STF by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who has concentrated several investigations on authorities without jurisdiction in the Court.

This is the case of Colonel of the Military Police Fábio Augusto Vieira, former commander of the corporation. He was arrested by order of Moraes at the request of the Federal Police (PF) for alleged failure to protect the Esplanada dos Ministérios and the headquarters of the STF, Congress and the Planalto Palace. He is investigated at the Supreme Court at the request of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), which also included in the inquiry the retired governor Ibaneis Rocha, the former secretary of Public Security of Anderson Torres and the former executive secretary of the folder Fernando de Sousa Oliveira.

What are the cases investigated about the involvement of military personnel

At the MPM, there are seven procedures open to investigate the involvement of members of the Armed Forces in January 8th. One of them is to investigate the performance of the Presidential Guard Battalion and the 1st Guard Cavalry Regiment, responsible for protecting the Planalto Palace. In the days following the invasion of the Executive headquarters, suspicions surfaced that there were few Army soldiers present, who did little or nothing to prevent the entry of vandals and to defend public property.

There are three news items in fact to determine the individual participation of military personnel in the demonstration. These are suspicions that came to the attention of the MPM based on the representation of other people, who denounced their presence at the acts.

Another piece of news actually investigates the camp in front of the Army headquarters, which started after the end of the 2022 elections. The focus of the MPM is to find out whether Army soldiers, who administer the area, facilitated the permanence of the campers. Officials from the Federal District have already reported, for example, that they tried to remove street vendors from the site, to disperse the demonstration, but that they were prevented by the Army.

There is also an administrative procedure to investigate all the facts related to acts involving military personnel. This is a broader investigation. But, as it is secret from Justice, little is known about the details of the case.

The most advanced case in the military sphere involves reserve colonel Adriano Testoni. He participated in the demonstration and recorded a video, which spread through the networks, cursing the Army High Command and some generals with profanity, at the moment when the police tried to remove demonstrators from the Esplanada dos Ministérios with tear gas. Days later, he recorded a video apologizing.

Before any action by the MPM, the Army instituted and concluded a military police investigation (IPM) indicting Testoni for the military crimes of injury and offense to the Armed Forces. The first offense is described in the Military Penal Code as the act of “injuring someone, offending their dignity or decorum”, and is punishable by imprisonment of up to six months. The second crime is defined as “disseminating facts, which you know are untrue, capable of offending the dignity or undermining the Armed Forces’ credit or the trust they deserve from the public”, with a penalty of six months to one year in prison.

How is the military criminal procedure

Testoni’s case helps to understand how a military investigation is carried out. The investigation of the facts and the indictment, in the form of an inquiry, are carried out by the Army itself, which then sends the result to the Military Public Ministry (MPM), which is responsible for the complaint. In the case of the colonel, this has not been done yet because the attorney in charge of the case still wants to hear him, so that he can defend himself. Once the complaint is presented, it is up to the Military Justice to open the process and judge the case, condemning or acquitting the military. In case of conviction, another process is opened in the Military Justice to decide whether or not he loses his rank, due to indignity.

This does not prevent a member of the military from being prosecuted in common law, for conduct that is not typified in the Military Penal Code. This is the case, for example, of crimes against the Democratic State of Law and also of terrorism – which are being imputed to people who participated in the vandalism in Brasília. If the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) understands that these crimes occurred in the acts of January 8 and there is involvement of members of the Armed Forces, prosecutors can denounce the military before Federal Justice. If convicted, it will still be up to the military court to declare, in a separate action, whether or not they lose their rank.

How are the investigations about military and civilian police

With regard to military police officers, the investigation procedure is similar to that of members of the Armed Forces, but investigations and complaints to the courts for alleged military crimes are the responsibility of the Public Ministry of the Federal District and Territories (MPDFT). The agency also investigates whether civil police officers were involved.

Since the 9th, the MPDFT has been gathering information to determine which police officers would have participated in or facilitated the invasions and destruction of monuments, works of art and installations in the buildings of Praça dos Três Poderes. The scenes that most caught the attention of prosecutors, published in the press, were of PMs escorting demonstrators to the location and policemen filming the violent acts without trying to stop them.

The MPDFT has already requested information from the Federal District government, such as the number of police officers employed in the operation on the 8th, the strategies adopted, the moment when the acts became extremist and the preventive measures adopted. It also demanded from the Civil Police a list of all civil police officers who eventually participated in the act on the Esplanada on the 8th, as well as internal disciplinary investigations.