OAB sectionals differ on defending the rights of 8/1 prisoners

The chapters of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) in the different states of the country have diverged in their approach to defending the rights of prisoners of January 8th and the prerogatives of their lawyers. In general, in the legal environment, there is a fear that the emphasis on the rights of prisoners will be socially read as a sign of vandalism, but some regional OABs have already made strong demonstrations highlighting the need to respect due legal process.

On Monday (16), the president of the OAB of Rio Grande do Sul, Leonardo Lamachia, stated that “there are excesses practiced by the Federal Supreme Court”, in decisions “that violate the 1988 Constitution and that also violate the State Democratic Law, prerogatives of law, in addition to usurping the competence of the Public Ministry and the judiciary itself”.

The OAB of the Federal District has also twice expressed itself critically, indicating the lack of access to the case files, stating that there was “an urgent occurrence of serious nullities in the holding of custody hearings” delegated by the STF and adding, days later, that there are “a series of problems related to basic human rights, including prisoners without minimal medical treatment for anomalous situations”.

Other sectionals, however, avoid addressing the situation of prisoners directly. The sections of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, for example, when questioned by the report of the People’s Gazette on the subject, they limited themselves to reproducing a note from the federal OAB stating that the order “is ready to act, in accordance with its legal and constitutional duties, in defense of republican institutions and the prerogatives of lawyers”. The OAB of Ceará stated that “it strives for respect for human dignity, the guarantees inherent to due process of law, the contradictory, the fullness of defense and the prerogatives of advocacy”.

Also in response to the newspaper, the sectional from Paraná said that “the defense of prerogatives has been a constant focus of manifestations and actions of OAB Paraná”. “Foreseen by law and created to ensure the broad right of defense, these fundamental guarantees should never be confused with privileges, as they only deal with establishing guarantees for the lawyer as a representative of the legitimate interests of his clients”, said the body. “Access to case files is a basic requirement for a qualified professional performance by the lawyer, the realization of the right of defense and fundamental guarantees”, he added.

Sections of the OAB monitor situations of prisoners and evaluate attitudes towards lawyers involved in the acts

In recent days, presidents of the chapters of several states have made gestures to demonstrate that they are aware of the concerns of lawyers for those arrested by the acts of the 8th.

The Human Rights Commission (CDH) of the Acre branch, for example, visited the nine detainees in the state on the 12th. According to the commission, in the visit made to a women’s prison, the three women detained for the acts had “symptoms of depressive disorder”. One of them is 73 years old, according to the OAB/AC.

“During the visit by the OAB/AC, they also reported that in the place where they are being held there are not enough mattresses for all of them and that they are sleeping on the stone”, said the agency. “The OAB will continue to monitor the course of the lawsuits, to ensure the right to due process of law, human rights and the fundamental principles enshrined in our Federal Constitution of Brazil”, said Gabriel Maia, president of the OAB/AC CHR.

OAB federal counselors from various sectionals were invited to Brasilia by the national president of the Order, Beto Simonetti, to compose a crisis management group for problems related to advocacy. One of them, the federal counselor of the OAB of Alagoas, Marcos Méro, noted that “no violation of human rights was found by the Order, which continues to monitor closely so that, in the prison unit where the prisoners are being taken, this reality does not change ”. Auriney Brito, a federal councilor for Amapá, said that the prisoners “were treated in privileged conditions, compared to the condition of all other prisoners in the country”.

Another topic that generates discussion in several sections is the treatment to be given to lawyers who have participated directly or indirectly in the attacks. The Bahia section, for example, made a request for the national OAB to recognize the “moral unsuitability” – a criterion for expulsion from the Order – of lawyers who have participated in the acts. “A lawyer who, by action or omission, supports, participates, encourages or finances an attack against the Democratic State of Law or against the functioning of any of the republican institutions, practices an act that configures moral unsuitability, under the terms of art.34, item XXVII, EAOAB”, says the request made in the application sent by the OAB-BA.

At the OAB Ceará, according to the newspaper O Povo, a group of lawyers demanded a position from the body on the alleged participation of state lawyers in the demonstrations. The issue will be judged in the Court of Ethics and Discipline of the Ceará section.