Minister denies government is slow to respond in rape case.
Brazilian Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes denied that the government of interim president Michel Temer was slow to comment on the gang rape case in Rio de Janeiro. The Temer government was criticized by opponents and on social media for its delay in addressing the case, which gained international attention. Suspended President Dilma Rousseff commented on Thursday when the case gained notoriety, while the Temer government only commented on Friday. "There was no delay on the part of the federal government. Unlike other people who can comment as soon as they read, the federal government, out of respect for the state government, needs to have information about what actually happened and how it happened," he explained.
Reuters - Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes denied on Friday that the government of interim president Michel Temer had been slow to respond to the gang rape case in Rio de Janeiro and announced plans to create a department within the Federal Police focused on combating crimes against women.
The Temer government was criticized by opponents and on social media for the delay in commenting on the case, which gained international attention. Suspended President Dilma Rousseff spoke out on Thursday when the case gained notoriety, while the Temer government only did so on Friday.
"There was no delay on the part of the federal government. Unlike other people who can comment as soon as they read, the federal government, out of respect for the state government, needs to have information about what actually happened and how it happened," Moraes told reporters in Rio de Janeiro.
"This was done this morning by the Ministry of Justice and President Temer condemned this heinous absurdity," he added.
The federal government had already scheduled a national meeting with public security secretaries from across the country for next week and will use the meeting to address violence against women.
"On Tuesday we intend to announce the creation of a department within the Federal Police to address violence against women, as instructed by President Temer," he said, without giving further details about this coordinating body.
The young victim of gang rape testified this Friday and, according to investigators, is very shaken and experiencing pain and discomfort due to the gang rape and the effects of the cocktail of medications she has been using to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
The police have not yet formally requested the arrest of four suspects from the courts because there is still a lack of legal grounds to support such a request.
"There are still some minor details missing... But this crime will not go unpunished. It is an attack not only on women, but on society," said Rio de Janeiro's Secretary of Public Security, José Mariano Beltrame.
Rio de Janeiro police are conducting an operation in the community where the gang rape allegedly took place to try to identify suspects and verify information that drug traffickers in the area carried out a settling of scores with suspects, who may have been killed.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier)