The CCJ (Constitution and Justice Committee) of the Senate approved this Wednesday (10) a version of the anti-faction bill which creates a tax on digital betting companies – known as paris – to finance public security actions. The proposal must now be voted on in the plenary session of the House.
The proposal has already been adopted by the House, in a process that caused polarization between the government and the position, resulting in a defeat for the government’s supporters. If the Senate plenary approves the text as it passed by the CCJ, a new analysis by the deputies will be necessary.
The proposal was approved by the board of directors by symbolic vote, without vote counting. Arrangement is possible when there is agreement between the benches. Urgent approval was also approved by the CCJ to forward the draft to the plenary this Tuesday.
The rapporteur of the project in committee was Senator Alessandro Vieira (MDB-SE), who should also be rapporteur in plenary. He says the new betting tax could bring in around 30 billion reais per year. The new tariff is called Cide-Bets by Vieira, referring to the tax paid on fuel.
The proposal approved by the CCJ also increases penalties for members of criminal organizations and changes the types of criminals proposed by the House.
The collegiate replaced the typifications of “structured social domain” and “privileging the structured social domain”, suggested by the deputies, with the types of “criminal faction” and “private militia”. The discussion focuses on how to fight against the domination of territories by criminals.
Militias and criminal factions are equated for legal purposes, with base sentences of 15 to 30 years. The text provides for an aggravating circumstance, for example, for those who command this type of organization.
According to Vieira, the sentences imposed on the faction leaders could reach 120 years in prison – but the draft does not change the 40-year limit for serving a sentence.
The project also facilitates the blocking of economic activities by criminal organizations and the confiscation of criminals’ assets.
The sentence for those who commit the offense of receiving money through organized crime is set between 6 and 10 years. A type of criminal offense is created for the recruitment of children and adolescents into factions, punishable by 5 to 10 years in prison.
In addition, the text increases sanctions for those who kill military personnel and for those who interrupt the operation of transport infrastructure as part of organized criminal activities.
“This project represents the hardest blow against organized crime in Brazil in the history of the Brazilian Parliament, because, at the same time as it toughens sanctions, it toughens the processes, it toughens the execution of sentences, it creates new tools, it strengthens the tools of investigation and prosecution, it creates a source of resources for activities,” Vieira said.
Supporters and opponents of the government have expressed support for the new tax. “My opinion on the bets is that they were not even supposed to be approved,” said Senator Zenaide Maia (PSD-RN). “The profits of organized crime increased alarmingly after the advent of betting,” said Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE).
One of the most important debates throughout the bill’s progress through the House was whether or not criminal organizations should be equated with terrorist organizations. The idea is defended by the Bolsonarists.
The project’s rapporteur in the House, the Bolsonarist Guilherme Derrite (PP-SP), even proposed this equivalence, but had to back down for the project to be approved. The Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, for example, opposes equivalence on the grounds that they are crimes of a different nature.
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