Secretary denies plan to privatize federal prisons – 10/08/2023 – Panel

The executive secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Ricardo Cappelli, denies that the government has any plans to privatize or grant an administrative concession to the five penitentiaries that are under federal administration.

Federal prisons are often the destination for prisoners considered highly dangerous, such as leaders of criminal factions. Fernandinho Beira-Mar, one of the leaders of Comando Vermelho, from Rio de Janeiro, and Marcola, from the PCC in São Paulo, are in federal units. “There is nothing under analysis on the topic,” says Cappelli.

The discussion came to a head after a controversy involving Minister Silvio Almeida (Human Rights), who left the Prerogativas WhatsApp group, of lawyers allied with President Lula (PT), after being accused of a penitentiary privatization model.

The lawyer was referring to the fact that BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) has two project contracts to create PPPs (public-private partnerships) in the prison sector with Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.

In both cases, which began under the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and were maintained by the current state governors, the models designed are administrative concessions: the construction and maintenance of infrastructures would be granted to the private sector, but the management and power of police would be kept under public responsibility.

On Friday (6), the Erechim Prison PPP auction was won by Soluções Serviços Terceirizados, in a contract with an estimated value of R$2.5 billion and a concession period of 30 years. The investment forecast is R$149 million — the company may seek financing from BNDES.

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