Moraes admits error, but maintains defendant’s sentence of 1/8 – 11/17/2023 – Power

Minister Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the criminal actions resulting from the January 8 coup attacks at the STF (Supreme Federal Court), adjusted his vote, but maintained the 17-year prison sentence for Eduardo Zeferino Englert, 42, after the defense pointed out an error in the first trial.

The new analysis, which began in the early hours of Friday (17), comes after Englert’s lawyers stated that the defendant was never at the Army headquarters before the attacks. The argument was confirmed by the Federal Police after expert examination. As a result, the votes from the previous trial were reset.

The trial takes place until the 24th in the court’s virtual system, a tool in which ministers present their votes without face-to-face discussion, and lawyers’ arguments are filed in video form.

Englert is from Santa Maria (RS), and was arrested in the act at Palácio do Planalto on the day of the attacks.

Moraes had upheld the action and proposed a sentence of 17 years in prison for the crimes of violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état, qualified damage, deterioration of listed property and armed criminal association.

In the decision, the minister said he had overwhelming evidence that Englert had arrived in the capital on January 7th and stayed at the Army HQ until the following day.

He also stated that the defendant’s criminal activity was evident and that, contrary to what the defense maintains, “the evidence indicates that the accused was involved in the criminal enterprise.”

However, as shown by Sheet, an examination carried out by the PF on his cell phone showed that there were no records of him going to the Bolsonarist camp on that date. A report signed by the National Institute of Criminalistics attached to the criminal action found that the defendant only arrived in Brasília at 2:15 pm on the 8th.

Lawyer Marcos Vinicius Rodrigues de Azevedo, who defends the defendant, added that there is no relevant fact that supports the rapporteur’s vote, “nor any proof that the defendant would have, through free initiative and spontaneity, expressed in his name any coup interest or military intervention”.

Furthermore, he stated that the defendant only joined Planalto “to protect himself from stun bombs.”

As a result, two days before the end of the virtual session, the minister asked for emphasis on the action, a mechanism that takes the judgment to the physical plenary and all votes already cast virtually are annulled. Afterwards, the request was withdrawn by the rapporteur himself. Thus, the analysis continues in the online system.

The STF has already sentenced a total of 25 defendants, with sentences reaching up to 17 years, because of coup acts promoted by supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). Judgments were made in physical and virtual plenary sessions.

On January 9, one day after the attacks, 2,151 people were arrested in the act, according to the STF. Of these, 1,345 had been reported by the PGR (Attorney General’s Office) by September and became defendants.