Opposition seeks evidence of Dino’s omission with the National Force

The deliberative session of the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) on January 8, scheduled for this Tuesday (22), should discuss additional measures to try to overcome the resistance of the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, to sharing the set of images captured by around 40 internal security cameras at the headquarters of his portfolio on the day of the acts of vandalism. The president of the CPMI, deputy Arthur Maia (União Brasil-BA), last week sent a new request to Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), this time to charge Dino with meeting the demands of the collegiate that already were ratified by the Court itself.

In addition to renewing their protests, members of the opposition, who consider Dino’s repeated denials over two months a strong indication of the federal authorities’ omission in what happened at Praça dos Três Poderes, will add requirements to those that will be voted on at the meeting. They want the expertise of the recordings of the two cameras that were made available to the collegiate, to verify the existence of eventual editing or suppression of the content. According to senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE), it is possible to observe that the external rotation of one of the ministry’s cameras was done manually by employees at times, with the aim of focusing on certain events.

The images provided by the two cameras were directed towards the outside of the building and towards the entrance hall, known as the Black Room. Excerpts show that, about an hour after the invasions of public buildings, which began around 3:00 pm on January 8, men from the National Force circulated calmly equipped around the reception. Flávio Dino has already stated that the corporation had been put on standby by him, but he did not activate it because he had expected a formal request from the governor of the Federal District, Ibaneis Rocha (MDB).

According to Decree 5,289/2004, the use of the National Public Security Force, in any part of the Brazilian territory, can be determined in two ways. The first would be at the express request of the governor of the state or of the Federal District to the Minister of Justice or even by another Minister of State. In the second hypothesis, the determination would come through the initiative of the Minister of Justice, even without any request from a governor. By leaving the contingent stationary, posted on duty in the premises of his portfolio, the minister provided more arguments for the opposition to suspect negligence in the face of events.

Troop stayed two and a half hours without reacting to upcoming events

Parliamentarians remember that the minister and the National Force, which is subordinate to him, spent at least two and a half hours without reacting to the vandalism events, according to images revealed. They also show troop soldiers and Dino himself watching everything a few meters in front of him. “The Ministry of Justice’s resistance to providing the videos can only be explained by a fear that we make this interpretation”, said Senator Izalci Lucas (PSDB-DF).

The suspicion of inaction may gain even more detail not only if the pendency surrounding the images of the Palace of Justice is overcome, but also with other elements brought by the testimony of photographer Adriano Machado, from the agency Reuters, at CPMI. He revealed that he had witnessed and photographed the presence of around 240 members of the National Force positioned behind the building, close to the parking lot, when the invasions had already started. Senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE) submitted a request for the Reuters send the sequence of photos taken at the back of the building to the commission.

For senator Esperidião Amin (PP-SC), Machado’s report was further evidence that there was little resistance to the invasion because these troops would not have been moved to the Planalto. According to figures from the Ministry of Justice delivered to the CPMI, in response to one of its official letters, 296 men were mobilized by decree of the ministry to protect Praça dos Três Poderes on January 8, of which 214 were present at the Esplanada dos Ministérios and another 82 were positioned in support and support activities. To further intrigue the opposition, the governing group refuses to put to a vote the request to hear the head of the National Force.

Refusal to cooperate served as the basis for reporting a crime

Since June, the CPMI has sent a series of letters to the Ministry of Justice to demand responses to requests also approved in plenary and sent by the collegiate. The main focus of this pressure lies in obtaining the images from the security cameras, as well as details about the troops and the programming of the National Force on January 8th. A group of 16 members of the opposition called the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) last week to denounce Dino’s repeated refusal to present all of the images. In addition, they also appealed to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) with the request to search for the denied images.

The president of the CPMI, Arthur Maia, even gave Dino 48 hours to deliver the images, or disrespect for the commission would lead to an appeal to the STF. In response to pressure, the deputy asked Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur for investigations at the STF, to share the videos without violating the ongoing investigation at the Court. On the 7th, the magistrate authorized Dino to send the images. So far, the Ministry of Justice has not even confirmed the existence of other images to be sent to the commission. Pressured by the opposition, Maia said he did not find it necessary to confront Dino.

The suspicion of negligence on the part of the Minister of Justice, who remained at the Ministry’s headquarters as a spectator during the period of the invasions, sustains the struggle between the CPMI and the government. Dino has refuted the collection of materials, accusing the opposition of wanting to “blame the government for a crime of which he was the victim” and justifies his refusal to cooperate with alleged secrecy of investigations that investigate crimes within the scope of the STF. But the Court itself has already released the sharing.

Government continues in the effort to gather evidence against Bolsonaro

In the session next Thursday (24), the CPMI will hear the testimony of Luís Marcos dos Reis, an Army sergeant who was part of the Orders Assistance team of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). Reis is appointed as responsible for the atypical movement of financial resources destined for Colonel Mauro Cesar Cid, the former president’s assistant. This information is contained in a report by the Financial Activities Control Council (Coaf) sent to the CPMI and leaked by the press.

Senator Eliziane Gama (PSD-MA), rapporteur for the CPMI, identifies the sergeant as “a servant responsible for meeting Cid’s demands”, and claims that his testimony is “fundamental”. She and six other parliamentarians are the authors of the summons requests, justified by alleged links between Reis and the organization of the January 8 acts. The sergeant will be heard as a witness.

In May, he was arrested during investigations into an alleged scheme to forge Bolsonaro’s vaccination card. The objective of the government supporters is to continue investigating facts that may help prove the thesis that the former president led an attempted coup d’état.

The Minister of the Institutional Relations Secretariat, Alexandre Padilha, said this Monday (21) that Bolsonaro’s role as an “intellectual and spiritual mentor” of the acts of January 8 is even “clearer and more evident”. During an interview with Radio Novabrasil FM, he supported the thesis that the investigations of Justice would be closing the siege against the former president in order to impute to him actions of “planning, organization and execution” of the invasions. Padilha also suggested that Bolsonaro’s arrest may be close: “anyone who participated in the acts of January 8 must be duly punished, regardless of the political result of this”.