Racism by Anielle Franco’s advisor could be a non-bailable crime

The racist speech of Marcelle Decothé, Special Advisor for Strategic Affairs at the Ministry of Racial Equality, could be a non-bailable crime in light of the new understanding of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) on crimes of racism, according to jurists consulted by People’s Gazette.

Last Sunday (24), Marcelle used Instagram to make racist insults to São Paulo fans: “White fans, who don’t sing, descendants of naughty Europeans [sic]”.

For Alessandro Chiarottino, doctor in Constitutional Law from USP, the speech could “undoubtedly” characterize a non-bailable crime according to the Supreme Court’s current interpretation of racism.

“And there is more: when the crime of insulting a person’s race or origin is committed by a public official in the exercise of his functions or under the pretext of carrying them out, the penalty will be increased by one third. Therefore, it is an act very serious criminal”, he states.

After the controversy over the advisor’s statements, the Ministry of Racial Equality stated that “even though the posts were made in a moment of relaxation, outside of institutional rites and in an informal tone, the case will be submitted to internal investigation bodies to determine the conduct of the servants.”

For Chiarottino, the reservation about the posts being made “in a moment of relaxation” is not valid as a mitigating factor. “If that were the case, we should mitigate the guilt of those criminals who, in the 90s in Brasília, burned the Indian Galdino under the pretext that they did it ‘as a joke’. The purpose of the legislation that punishes crimes of racism is also to prevent ‘ jokes’ that convey prejudice”, he explains.

The report from People’s Gazette contacted the Ministry of Racial Equality asking whether Marcelle will be removed from her position and whether the department considers the use of racist insults to be tolerable “in moments of relaxation”. In case of a response, the ministry’s position will be added to this matter.

Advisor has already posted a photo with the text “white people are crazy”

On January 6, 2021, to comment on an aspect of the repression of the invasion of the Capitol in the USA, Marcelle Decothé posted a text on Twitter followed by an image with the words “white people are crazy”.

The text states:

Capitol, Washington (DC): White police officers against white protesters without being able to throw a firecracker, a baton and without firing a “warning” shot in the back.

In the image posted to accompany the text there is, apparently, a photo of a defense session for a course conclusion thesis in social communication whose title is “White people are crazy”. It is evident, from the context of the tweet, that Marcelle wanted to use the phrase to express a discriminatory opinion about the behavior of white people.

The tweet can be seen at this link.