STJ increases sentences for police officers convicted of the death of bricklayer Amarildo in 2013

The Sixth Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) decided, this Tuesday (22), to increase the sentences of eight military police officers convicted of torture followed by death and concealment of the corpse of bricklayer Amarildo Dias de Souza. The case occurred in 2013 in the community of Rocinha, in Rio de Janeiro. At the time, it was alleged that 25 police officers participated in the execution, and some of them were expelled from the force, while 17 were acquitted.

According to the complaint, the police tortured Amarildo in an attempt to obtain information about the storage of weapons and drugs in the region. The injuries resulted in the mason’s death. In addition, the mason’s body was hidden and the crime scene altered – the allegation was that Amarildo had been kidnapped and killed by drug dealers.

The STJ collegiate, unanimously, partially granted the appeal of the Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ), considering as factors that justify the increase in penalties the international repercussion of the crimes and the fact that Amarildo’s body was not found anyway after more than ten years of disappearance.

The case’s rapporteur, Minister Rogerio Schietti Cruz, highlighted the seriousness of the episode as an emblematic example of police violence against the black and peripheral population of Rio de Janeiro. He stated that Amarildo’s disappearance caused social upheavals both locally and internationally, making him a symbol of this type of violence.

“The case of the disappearance of Amarildo de Souza became notorious due to the concrete gravity of the fact, which constituted an emblematic episode of police violence against a member of the black and peripheral population of Rio de Janeiro, causing social upheavals not only in the local community but also in also in the country and in the international community”, he said.

However, the judgment also rejected appeals presented by the defense, alleging irregularities in the investigation and problems with testimonial evidence, among other arguments. The court pointed out procedural impediments based on precedents of the STJ and the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which prevented the analysis of the merits of these appeals.

The highest sentence among the eight convicted defendants was set at 16 years, three months and six days in prison. The rapporteur emphasized that the lack of recovery of Amarildo’s body over a decade constituted an aggravating circumstance of the crime, justifying the increase in the base penalty.

“Although the crime of concealment of a corpse is of a permanent nature, the failure to recover the body is not elementary typical and authorizes an increase in the penalty. Indeed, the fact that the victim’s body, ten years after the crime, has not yet been found, in order to prevent his family members from burying him, is a more serious circumstance of the crime, which gives rise to exasperation of the basic penalty”, he added. the rapporteur.