Anderson Torres, former Secretary of Public Security for the Federal District and former Minister of Justice, is originally a Federal Police delegate. He must know he’s in a lot of trouble. The threads that connect very serious facts in his name already make up a fabric that is emerging from the entry of suspicion and evidence to become a robust set of evidence.
(Image: Evaristo Sá | AFP)
Reinaldo Azevedo, on his blog
Anderson Torres, former Secretary of Public Security for the Federal District and former Minister of Justice, is originally a Federal Police delegate. He must know he’s in a lot of trouble. The threads that connect very serious facts in his name already make up a fabric that is emerging from the entry of suspicion and evidence to become a robust set of evidence.
I’m not a “coach” of investigators, am I? But I try to be an attentive reader of legal diplomas. It is convenient for the doctor to start reading in detail Law 12,850, also called “on criminal organizations”, which dedicates the entire Section I of Chapter II to the so-called “Premium Collaboration”. Ah, yes: clouds are also gathering on Jair Bolsonaro’s horizon.
I’m not exactly a dicta-cuja enthusiast, but it exists. If Torres decides to claim only for himself, without seeking any other benefit arising from the accusation, the responsibility for actions directly linked to the attempt to sabotage the election, to the articulation of a costumed coup of legalism and to the attack, with practices of a terrorist nature, to the respective headquarters of the Three Powers, he may be reserving a cell in Papuda, or another prison that his defense claims, for many years. It will be up to him to know how far his political loyalty goes and how much time of his life he is willing to donate to a cause that sought to put an end to the democratic regime in Brazil.
I am not drafting a condemnatory sentence, as is evident. I’m here to draw attention to what lies ahead. His silence could turn him into the most robust figure of the “old regime” to receive truly exemplary punishment. Did he just act out of conviction or did he also obey orders?
The revelation that he traveled to Bahia on the eve of the second round and that he tried, in a state that voted mostly for Lula, to join forces with the Federal Highway Police, to creating transit difficulties for potential Lula voters is extremely serious. Worse: a team from the Ministry of Justice, under the guidance of delegate Marília Ferreira Alencar, assigned to the portfolio, would have prepared a map of the cities to be targets of actions by the PRF and the Federal Police itself — highlighting, as far as is known, that the PF did not participate in the operation. Such mapping would have been guided by the PT’s performance in the first round. The blockade of roads in Northeastern states was effectively carried out on Election Day. It should be added: the day before, Minister Alexandre de Moraes had already determined the suspension of any such operation.
Someone needs to present Torres with Article 350-P of the Penal Code:
Art. 359-P – Restricting, preventing or hindering, with the use of physical, sexual or psychological violence, the exercise of political rights to any person by reason of their sex, race, color, ethnicity, religion or national origin:
Penalty – Imprisonment of 3 (three) to 6 (six) years and a fine, in addition to the penalty corresponding to the violence.
Torres will find himself grappling with those who testify to his action in favor of blockades, under the pretext that it was necessary to investigate an alleged scheme to defraud the election.
The coup draft
We know the terms of the coup draft. It was an aberration that sought to lend an impossible gloss of legality to a coup d’état, with the decree of the State of Defense only in the Superior Electoral Court. The functions of the TSE would be assumed by a board, under the control of the Ministry of Defense. Additionally, AI-5 was partially reissued by making the decisions of that group unappealable.
The ill-fated document was at Torres’ house and was only found due to the search and seizure warrant issued by Moraes in the wake of the madness of January 8th. He says he does not know the origin of the document, which he claims to have come into his hands through a secretary, who denies it.
Someone needs to present Torres with Article 359-L of the Penal Code:
Art. 359-L. Trying, using violence or serious threat, to abolish the democratic rule of law, preventing or restricting the exercise of constitutional powers:
Penalty – imprisonment, from 4 (four) to 8 (eight) years, in addition to the penalty corresponding to the violence.
As you can see, just trying.
It’s good to remember what led Bolsonaro’s then faithful sidekick to jail: it was the coup acts of January 8, with practices similar to terrorism.
He was the DF Security Secretary on the day of the attacks, but he had taken leave and traveled to the US. On March 1, Moraes kept the preventive. He wrote in his dispatch:
“The omission and connivance of several authorities in the area of security and intelligence were demonstrated by (a) the absence of the necessary policing, especially by the Shock Command of the Military Police of the Federal District; (b) the authorization for more than 100 (one hundred) buses to freely enter Brasília, without any police monitoring, even though it is well known that they would practice violent and anti-democratic acts; (c) the total inertia in closing the criminal camp in front of the Army HQ, in that Federal District, even when it was clear that the place was infested with terrorists, who even had their temporary and preventive arrests enacted.”
The minister added:
“With regard specifically to the “Draft of Decree”, the Attorney General’s Office highlighted the likelihood that, while free, ANDERSON GUSTAVO TORRES would jeopardize the continuation of investigations, the collection of evidence and, therefore, the prosecution criminal.”
Someone needs to present Torres with Article 359-M of the Penal Code:
“Art. 359-M. Attempting to depose, by means of violence or serious threat, the legitimately constituted government:
Penalty – imprisonment, from 4 (four) to 12 (twelve) years, in addition to the penalty corresponding to the violence“.
I don’t know if the ex-minister realizes this, but, at the top, there is talk here, only with the crimes listed (there are others), of 26 years in prison. If the penalty were reduced by half due to extenuating circumstances, it would still be quite a lot of suffering. It’s because?
It is worth remembering another excerpt from Moraes’ decision that maintained the preventive measure:
“Absolutely EVERYONE will be civilly, politically and criminally liable for acts that threaten Democracy, the Rule of Law and Institutions, including willful connivance – by action or omission – motivated by ideology, money, weakness, cowardice, ignorance, bad faith or bad -karatism“.
I reiterate my invitation for Torres to review Law 12,850.
And now Bolsonaro
As informed by Sheet“Electoral Inspector General Benedito Gonçalves concluded the evidence collection phase in the most advanced process against the plate headed by Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the 2022 elections. On Friday (31), the Minister of the TSE ordered the subpoena of the parties so that they present their last arguments (final arguments) in the records of the Aije (electoral investigation action). The action deals with the meeting promoted by Bolsonaro at the Alvorada Palace with ambassadors in July last year, when the then president made attacks without evidence on the electoral system.“.
The coup draft was added to the action. As there has already been a subpoena for closing arguments, there is a good probability that Gonçalves will not take the initiative to incorporate the most recent evidence against Torres, which, of course, refers to Bolsonaro
Even though the ex-minister’s blunders in Bahia are formally excluded from the process, judges are not obliged to pretend to themselves that they don’t know what they know. They can even omit a certain piece of data when writing their decision because it is absent from the file, but there is no way to omit it from their own conscience.
In the first action against Bolsonaro to be judged at the TSE — there are 15 others —, the possibility of the Homiziado Returnee becoming ineligible is great.
As for Torres, let’s see. If you don’t follow good advice, which is given to you for free, there is a risk of a good few years in jail. The only good news for him, in this case, is the possible company of his former boss. But it would take a while. For a while, only the panther of loneliness will remain.
➥ Join the Pragmatismo community on WhatsApp and receive news on your cell phone