MPF wants investigation into PRF omission in motorcycle riders – 03/12/2023 – Power

The 7th CCR (Coordination and Review Chamber) of the MPF (Federal Public Ministry), in charge of external control of police activity, wants to investigate possible omissions by the PRF (Federal Highway Police) in the inspection of motorcycles owned by Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and allies .

The former president promoted more than 30 motorcycle riders in 2021 and 2022 in several states, an initiative of an electoral nature and unrelated to the public function he held. He usually rode a motorcycle without a helmet, which constitutes a very serious infraction in the Brazilian Traffic Code. He was followed by several supporters, many also without safety equipment.

MPF units in the states were activated to find out if federal road agents failed to fulfill their duty as traffic inspectors during these motociatas. At the time, the PRF claimed that it was only acting in the security of the then representative, and the cases were archived.

In a February deliberative session aimed at reviewing the conclusions of the first instance, the MPF’s 7th CCR disagreed and returned the cases for the investigations to continue. The collegiate analyzed episodes that occurred in Bahia, Ceará, Goiás and Pernambuco.

It was the same 7th CCR that, last year, asked for the opening of a police inquiry to investigate the conduct of former general director of the PRF Silvinei Vasques in charge of the corporation. The collegiate works in Brasilia and is linked to the PGR (Attorney General of the Republic).

In the last four years, the PRF has shown alignment with Bolsonarism and has played a leading role in situations such as tightening inspection of buses in the second round of elections in regions where President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) had better rates of voting intentions.

Investigation requests sent to the MPF point out that the Federal Highway Police turned a blind eye to possible traffic violations committed in series by Bolsonaro and other participants in the motorcycles, such as the failure to use a safety helmet.

During the Bolsonaro government, at the request of the GSI (Institutional Security Office) of the Presidency of the Republic, road agents acted in the escort of the presidential convoy during the motociatas, mainly as scouts.

This was even the main claim of the PRF’s previous management in the states to justify the fact that it could not apply any administrative penalties. The corporation argued at the time that its agents acted in the security apparatus of the former representative and not in traffic control.

Members of the 7th CCR understood that, if there is proof of infractions recorded in videos with vehicle and author identification, there is no justification for the absence of assessments. The chamber’s holders are sub-attorneys Elizeta Ramos, José Adônis and Maria Iraneide.

The collegiate concluded that the investigations should answer whether there was effective inspection, in addition to identifying police officers who were scheduled to monitor the motorcycles.

According to the sub-attorneys, it is also necessary to point out “itineraries actually traveled without the use of the necessary protective equipment (helmet)”.

In September 2022, for example, Bolsonaro participated in a motorcycle race without a helmet when campaigning in cities in Pernambuco. The acts ended with speeches in Caruaru and Garanhuns, Lula’s birthplace.

The external control chamber of police activity also highlighted that it is necessary to verify whether the PRF has instituted internal investigations to hold servers responsible for possible omissions, whether by bosses or subordinates. Sought, the PRF did not report on the existence of these procedures.

Chosen to command the PRF in the Lula administration, inspector Antônio Fernando Oliveira claims that Bolsonaro set a bad example in his motorcycles.

“It is often the case that the leader replicates the leader’s attitude. Hence the enormous responsibility of someone who is at the head of a group. When the President of the Republic stops wearing a helmet, he influences the behavior of motorcyclists, and indirectly of the entire population. society. And like the helmet, it also happened with the mask [de proteção facial]the vaccine, social distancing,” he said.

In June of last year, the Senate’s PT bench sent a letter to the then Minister of Justice, Anderson Torres, demanding measures for Bolsonaro’s insistence on riding a motorcycle without a helmet.

“It is symbolic to realize that this infraction, which is committed repeatedly by the president, was practiced again two days before completing a month of the violent death of Genivaldo. While for President Bolsonaro, disobedience to the law does not even result in an approach, the same infraction committed by Genivaldo costs him his life”, stated the parliamentarians.

Genivaldo de Jesus Santos was killed after federal road police officers released a tear gas bomb and pepper spray inside the trunk of the vehicle in which the 38-year-old black man was placed after an approach in Umbaúba (101 km from Aracaju). He had been pulled over for riding a motorcycle on the highway without a helmet.

At the time, the PRF was commanded by Silvinei Vasques, an ally of the former president who became the subject of an investigation by the Federal Police.

Introduced at the request of the sub-attorneys of the 7th CCR, the inquiry aims to determine Vasques’ responsibility in tightening inspections of voter transport in the second round of elections, mainly in the Northeast, and the alleged omission of the PRF in the first 24 hours of the blockades of roads promoted by Bolsonaristas dissatisfied with Lula’s victory.

The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office also proposed the conviction of the police officer for administrative impropriety and for violating the principles of public administration. Judge José Arthur Diniz Borges, of the 8th Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro, accepted the action filed by the Attorney General’s Office, which made Vasques a defendant.