The president of Brazil’s Supreme Court, Justice Rosa Weber, has annulled former President Jair Bolsonaro’s latest pardon of dozens of police and military officers who were convicted for the deaths of 111 prisoners during an operation in 1992 to quell a riot in a Sao Paulo prison, in what became known as the Carandiru massacre.
The pardon was one of Bolsonaro’s last maneuvers before the end of his term in office, further overshadowed after thousands of his supporters stormed the headquarters of the three branches of government on January 8.
Weber’s decision is in response to a request from Brazil’s attorney general, Augusto Aras, who in late December 2022 sent the Supreme Court an unconstitutionality lawsuit against a part of this decree, as it contravened the Brazilian state’s international obligations to prosecute and punish those responsible for crimes against humanity.
The judicial process dragged on for decades and it was not until ten years ago that the courts convicted 74 of those police officers for the death of 77 prisoners. The sentences against them ranged from 48 to 624 years in prison, however, none of them served the sentence, since Brazilian law prevents imprisonment for more than 40 years for the same crime.
Of the condemned agents, five have already died – one of them murdered – and another 69 are still alive. More than 30 years later, no one has entered prison, thanks in part to the maneuvering of the defense attorneys who have appealed each of the sentences.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
