The military police officer who shot and killed jiu-jitsu fighter Leandro Lo has been barred from official company activities until the judiciary’s final ruling on the case. The General Command of the Military Police decided that Henrique Velozo would not return to normal activities for the moment, although the court ordered his reinstatement, as he was acquitted of the murder charge. The jurors understood that Velozo had acted in self-defense, a version that the fighter’s family disputes.
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Despite the preliminary reinstatement order, the Prime Minister decided that Velozo would be subject to a “specific disciplinary regime”, which provides for “removal from office, prohibition from wearing the uniform, payment of only one third of the remuneration and the impossibility of being promoted”. Taken unanimously at the Military Police Justification Council, the decision was published in the Official Journal on December 1st.
According to g1, the police “got angry” with the lieutenant because, on the day of the murder, Henrique Velozo did not follow company protocols for communicating this type of situation. The lieutenant’s defense told the portal that he would wait for a court decision outside of his operational duties.
The lieutenant asked the victim’s family for forgiveness in a video played after the jury. The Prime Minister recalls the time he spent in prison while waiting for the case to be judged, and affirms that he would have acted to preserve his own life.
— I was imprisoned for 3 years and 3 months (…) I must make a request for forgiveness, a request for forgiveness to my family, to my mother, to my father, to my sister, to my friends and to all the people who loved Leandro Lo (…) But I would also like to clarify that that day I was placed at a limit, a limit in which I would not want to be, where I unfortunately had to dirty my hands to preserve my life — says Velozo.
Police officer who killed Leandro Lo claims he acted in self-defense, asks for forgiveness
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP), the police officer approached the table where Leandro and his friends were and provoked him, taking a bottle of whiskey that the group was consuming. Subsequently, Leandro Lo allegedly applied a jiu-jitsu movement called baiana against the police officer, in order to pin him to the ground to restrain him after he held the bottle of drink. The fighter allegedly released the officer and the officer later returned and shot Lo in the head. The Prime Minister even reportedly kicked the fighter after the shot.
Lawyers Renan Canto and Cláudio Delladone, who represent the police officer, disputed the MP’s accusation. They and the lieutenant himself gave another version to the jury, which ended up accepting the defense’s account.
They claim Velozo was confronted by the group while watching the pagoda spectacle. The police officer allegedly tried to calm the situation by inviting the group to drink together, and that is why he held the bottle of whiskey. They also claim that the officer was pushed by one of Leandro’s friends and that the fighter subsequently delivered a blow that knocked the officer to the ground.
Leandro allegedly freed the prime minister from the coup, then Velozo claims he stood up, identified himself as a police officer and pulled out his gun. He claims that the fighter would have advanced against him again, to try to shoot him again, and that one of his friends would have tried to take the Prime Minister’s weapon, and that would be when the shot was fired.
— The version of the witnesses, friends of Leandro, was contradictory and false. At all times, they wanted to defend the blows carried out by Leandro — says lawyer Renan Canto.
Lawyers for the fighter’s family dispute the version presented to the jury.
— His version (that of the police officer) was constructed by the defense. When he was charged, he remained silent. They waited several times for all the witnesses to speak before presenting their version in court. If this is an officer of the Prime Minister who acted in self-defense, why did it take him 8 months to present his version? Our version is that of the witnesses. The company understood that it was self-defense, we will appeal – says the lawyer of Leandro Lo’s family, Adriano Vanni.
The trial opened on November 12. Three prosecution witnesses and one defense witness were heard, in addition to the accused himself. The prosecution expected a sentence of at least 20 years, based on these three qualifications. But in the final vote, at least four of the seven jurors (five women and two men) accepted self-defense.
The sentence was pronounced by Judge Fernanda Jacomini, of the 1st Court with Jury. The family reacted with outrage, while the prosecution said it saw “nullities” in the process and believed the decision would be overturned.
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