OAB-DF asks for information on prisoner processes in Brasilia

The Federal District section of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB-DF) sent a letter to Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), to ask for basic information on the processes being processed against the more than a thousand people arrested, accused of participating in acts of vandalism on January 8th or arrested for being in front of the General Headquarters in Brasilia, on January 9th.

The OAB-DF informed the minister that it was contacted by lawyers for the prisoners, who report having violated their professional prerogatives and denounce the “anomalous” situation of the detainees, in circumstances that violate human rights.

In the official letter, the OAB-DF asks the minister for three basic pieces of information, required by the Constitution and other Brazilian laws to guarantee the full right of defense and due process of law. The first, the identification of cases (class and number) in the STF, since lawyers do not know which cases their clients are being tried. Then, what would be the electronic petition system or what other procedure should be adopted by the lawyers to obtain the records, especially the minutes of the custody hearing carried out. Despite being old-fashioned and questionable, Moraes usually makes the investigation records available only on paper.

Finally, the OAB-DF asks if the STF has a deadline to analyze the requests for freedom, considering that the custody hearings, according to reports (there is no official information) would have ended and the prison system in Brasilia would be overcrowded, ” which causes a series of problems related to basic human rights, including prisoners without minimal medical treatment for anomalous situations”.