Zambelli could be arrested if convicted of pursuing a gun – 08/22/2023 – Politics

Federal deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) can be sentenced to up to six years in prison in a semi-open regime and lose her mandate if she is found guilty in an action that deals with the armed persecution against a man in São Paulo in October last year.

The characterization of a serious threat arising from the use of a firearm prevents any prison sentence from being converted into alternatives such as providing service to the community, according to specialists.

Zambelli is accused of illegally carrying a firearm and illegal embarrassment with the use of a weapon in a complaint filed by the PGR (Attorney General’s Office). The accusation refers to the episode in which the congresswoman chased a man in São Paulo with a 9mm gun on the eve of the second round of last year’s elections.

Last Monday (21), the STF (Federal Supreme Court) decided to make Zambelli defendant in the action, by 9 votes to 2. Ministers André Mendonça and Kássio Nunes Marques disagreed with the majority.

According to Rossana Leques, a criminal lawyer with a master’s degree in criminal law from USP (University of São Paulo), the deputy could face a sentence of up to six years started in a semi-open regime if she is found guilty of the two crimes.

Leques says that ministers will be able to choose, if they decide to condemn, for a more serious penalty, in the closed regime, or a milder one, according to the interpretation of the case. In any case, the specialist points out that the use of the pistol represented a serious threat that prevents the penalty from being converted into an alternative penalty.

In addition to the restriction of freedom, there is also a fine, the amount of which varies according to the specifics of the case and the purchasing power of the defendant.

The penalty for the crime of illegal possession of a firearm is two to four years in prison and a fine. In the case of the crime of illegal embarrassment, the penalty is from three months to one year of detention or a fine. The use of a firearm is a qualifier that can double the penalty attributed to the crime of embarrassment. Therefore, detention could be up to two years.

For Luana Magalhães, a lawyer and doctor of law from the UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais), the maximum sentence Zambelli can face is four years in prison in a semi-open regime.

“By a single action, she committed two different crimes. [Zambelli] would serve the sentence for the most serious crime, which in this case would be four years. Hardly, in this specific case, we would have the sum of the term of the sentences”, she says.

If found guilty by the judges, Zambelli must also lose her mandate. According to Alberto Rollo, lawyer and professor of electoral law at Escola Paulista de Direito, the defendant, after the final conviction, has the suspension of political rights for the time of the sentence, which would imply the loss of office.

In addition, it can be framed in the Clean Record Law and become ineligible. Ineligibility takes place from the judgment of the collegiate body until the final decision. If the appeals maintain the decision, the defendant has her political rights suspended.

“The suspension of political rights is different from ineligibility. When a person is ineligible, he cannot run for any elective office, but he can exercise his right to vote. Now, when there is a suspension of political rights, that individual is prevented to vote and to be voted for”, says José Paes Neto, lawyer and member of Abradep (Brazilian Academy of Electoral and Political Law).

The parliamentarian’s defense claims that Zambelli’s action was self-defense and has no relation to his elected office, which would remove the judgment from the STF’s jurisdiction.

Daniel Bialski, the deputy’s lawyer, said in a note that the parliamentarian’s innocence will be “recognised when the merits are judged”. “And, from now on, it clarifies that all the necessary evidence can be produced to show that she did not commit the criminal offenses for which she was accused,” he said.

Zambelli was at a restaurant in the Jardins neighborhood of São Paulo when she was provoked by a man who claimed that then-president Jair Bolsonaro and allies would “go back to the sewer” with Lula’s victory in the election.

The deputy chased the man with a 9mm gun in his hands. She pointed the gun at him and ordered, inside a cafeteria, to lie on the floor.

For the PGR, the parliamentarian exceeded legal limits in the approach. The Attorney’s Office also understands that the persecuted man did not pose any real danger or threat to the deputy.