Pardon rule for Luiz Estevão emerged via Anderson Torres – 03/14/2023 – Politics

The articles used by businessman Luiz Estevão to obtain a pardon for his sentence entered the last Christmas decree of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) after an internal meeting determined by the then Minister of Justice, Anderson Torres.

The former senator, who in 2016 began serving 26 years in prison for embezzling public funds earmarked for the construction of the São Paulo Labor Forum, asked for and obtained a pardon based on Bolsonaro’s decree.

A Sheet obtained, through the Access to Information Law, the 141 pages of the internal process for preparing the decree by the Ministry of Justice.

The initial proposal, made by the CNPCP (National Council for Criminal and Penitentiary Policy), did not contain Article 4, which established the Christmas pardon for people over 70 years old, provided that one third of the sentence has been served, in addition to another section that excludes the elderly. the ban on granting pardons to those convicted of active corruption and embezzlement, among other crimes.

Estevão, who owns the Metrópoles news portal, is 73 years old and was convicted of active corruption, embezzlement and embezzlement.

These excerpts only appeared in the draft after a meeting between the Special Advisor for Legislative Affairs, the Special Advisor for the Minister and the Legal Advisor for the Ministry of Justice.

“By order of the Minister of State for Justice and Public Security, it was determined that meetings be held between this Special Advisor for Legislative Affairs, the Special Advisor for the Minister and the Legal Advisory, in order to discuss the issue. in the draft presented in the records, changes were suggested, duly approved by the Minister of State”, says an excerpt from the process of elaboration of the decree.

The excerpts used to obtain a pardon by Estevão are atypical in relation to the three Christmas decrees issued by Bolsonaro in previous years, which had wording relatively consistent with his punitive public discourse in relation to public security, reducing the scope of pardon —an exception made almost always to prisoners from the police forces or the Armed Forces.

In administrations prior to Bolsonaro, Christmas pardons for elderly prisoners were common, but with more restrictive conditions depending on the crimes committed.

In a certain part of the internal process of elaboration of the 2022 decree, technical areas come to the opinion that it is “imperative that any benefit does not include persons convicted of crimes against the public administration, especially those convicted of embezzlement, concussion, passive corruption, active corruption and trafficking of influence”.

This recommendation was ignored in the case of prisoners over 70 years of age.

The decree was published on December 23. Estevão’s defense filed a pardon request three days later. On the last 7th, the Justice of the DF granted pardon to the businessman.

The inclusion of atypical articles in Bolsonaro’s last Christmas decree occurred amid the coincidence of the action of the same group of lawyers for the former president, the businessman and the former Minister of Justice, who is now in prison for alleged omission in the coup attacks from the 8th of January.

Until a few days ago, lawyers Eustáquio Silveira and Vera Carla Silveira, who have worked for Estevão in more than 100 cases since 2005, were also part of Torres’ defense team.

According to the lawyers, the reason for the departure of Torres’ defense cannot be revealed because “it is part of a confidentiality clause”. They say they were chosen for the team for their “successful performance in a public civil action proposed against Anderson Gustavo Torres” in 2011.

Lawyer Marcelo Bessa, who also represents Estevão, is a lawyer for the PL and has recently taken over several cases related to Jair Bolsonaro at the Federal Supreme Court.

It was Bessa who signed the petition supported by Bolsonaro’s acronym, questioning the functioning of electronic voting machines in the 2022 elections.

Nothing innovative, says Estevão about pardon

Luiz Estevao told Sheet that “the pardons granted since the government of former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso until the first year of former President Michel Temer were much broader”.

“I don’t see anything innovative, it is partially repeating what was in the pardons for 20 years in Brazil”, he said, adding that he does not consider there to be any difference, in his case. “The only difference with the pardon is that I don’t have to get home at midnight and wait 6 hours to leave. Since I’m not into that, it doesn’t change anything.”

In 2019, the businessman moved to the semi-open regime and, in 2021, to the open one, under house arrest.

Torres’ defense did not comment.

Marcelo Bessa said he was unaware of the procedures that resulted in Bolsonaro issuing the decree and that he had never discussed this matter with anyone in or outside the government.

The pardon —forgiveness of the sentence, or “clemency”—means that those convicted of these crimes will not have to serve the punishments for which they were sentenced, although the conviction remains on the defendant’s file.

Provided for both in the Constitution and in criminal law, they are generally collective and benefit several convicts who meet objective requirements, such as prison time.