PSOL deputies try to limit police action in RJ

Federal deputy Talíria Petrone (PSOL-RJ) and state deputy of Rio de Janeiro Renata Souza, from the same party, announced this Saturday (16) that they filed a representation with the Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro and the Federal Public Ministry to overturn the court decision that revoked the prohibition on the preventive seizure of minors on the state’s beaches.

On Friday, the Rio de Janeiro Court had prohibited the arrest of teenagers without being caught during Operation Verão. The only exception would be the existence of a written order from the competent judicial authority. The decision was published by judge Lysia Maria da Rocha Mesquita, head of the 1st Court of Children, Youth and the Elderly of the District of the Capital.

The measure was widely criticized due to the impacts on public safety that the determination could cause. After the decision was published, Governor Cláudio Castro questioned the measure and announced that the government would appeal.

“By the decision, first they beat, kill and then act? Can that be right? I accept and respect the decision of the Court that prohibited the police from working preventively in Operation Summer – beachfront. We will appeal because the decision is wrong The fundamental principle of public security is prevention, which was hijacked in this decision,” the governor published on social media.

The following day, the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro (TJ-RJ) revoked the decision and reestablished permission for the state police to operate normally. The revocation was celebrated by Castro, who thanked the president of the court, judge Ricardo Rodrigues Cardoso, for the decision. The governor highlighted that the previous measure prevented the State from exercising the role of “preventive approach” in Operation Summer.

“Order has been restored. We had no other alternative than to go to court to defend our population’s right to security,” Castro said on social media.

However, for the PSOL deputies, the new court decision would be equivalent to “racism disguised as public security”. The parliamentarians classified it as “racial apartheid” and said that “the beach, one of the most democratic places in Rio de Janeiro, is now becoming yet another hostile place for Rio’s black youth.”