Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), voted on Friday to sentence the five members of the former command of the Military Police of the Federal District (PM-DF) to 16 years in prison for negligence in the January 8 coup. Moraes also voted to acquit two of the defendants.
The trial is taking place in a virtual plenary session among the ministers of the First Committee, and is expected to continue until December 5.
Moraes voted to convict the five highest-ranking defendants, all of whom held the rank of colonel in the Prime Minister’s office. Two of them commanded the company in the Defense Forces: Fabio Augusto Vieira, Commander-in-Chief of the 8th Division, and Klepter Rosa Gonçalves, who was deputy commander and assumed the position after Vieira’s dismissal and arrest, which was determined after the actions.
Strategic positions were also held by Jorge Naimi Barreto and Paulo José Ferreira de Sousa, president and vice president of the Operations Department respectively, and Marcelo Casimiro, who was commander of the 1st Regional Police Command, responsible for the Esplanada dos Ministerios region.
The rapporteur convicted the five of the four crimes they were accused of: coup d’état, violent abrogation of the democratic rule of law, qualifying damages and deterioration of listed property.
On the other hand, the Minister defended the acquittal of Major Flavio Silvestre Alencar and Second Lieutenant Rafael Pereira Martins, who led the riot factions during the coup.
Moraes considered that Alencar was a “tactical enforcer, without independence in strategic decisions” and that Martins “coordinated effective recovery actions”, ensuring the reoccupation of the SS and the Chamber of Deputies.
The complaint was based on the failure of security preparations for the coup operations and on messages exchanged between police officers who expressed sympathy with the movement.
For the Prosecutor of the Republic, Paulo Jeunet, “the accused’s participation in the dissemination of anti-democratic content has been proven” and “the accused’s deliberate omission regarding the use of military police personnel necessary to protect security and prevent looting at the headquarters of the three powers has been proven in the records.”
In closing arguments, the seven defendants denied the accusations and demanded acquittal.