Prosecutors: Police planted weapons at the Carandiru massacre.

Fernanda Cruz
Reporter from Agência Brasil

Sao Paulo - The trial of the Carandiru Massacre resumed today (20) at the Barra Funda Forum, in the capital of São Paulo, with debates between the prosecution and the defense. In the morning, the prosecution presented the thesis that the 13 weapons found in the Detention House, which allegedly belonged to the prisoners, had been “planted”, that is, brought by the Rota police themselves to justify the action, which took place in 1992 and ended with 111 dead.

The prosecution argued that the version claiming the prisoners fired at the ROTA (military police unit) is "a lie." "Unfortunately, it's common for bad police officers to plant firearms at crime scenes," the prosecution stated. The low visibility reported by the police officers, who said they could only see about a meter away when entering the prison, was also questioned by the prosecutors. "The military police claim that visibility was minimal. So how would it have been possible to find weapons and ammunition on the ground?"

The prosecution also cited that the report from the Public Prosecutor's Office's Official Commission investigating the case reinforced the idea that the 13 firearms found at the location had been "planted." Two of these weapons were traced, and it was discovered that the owner of one of the revolvers had had his weapon seized by the police, and the other had been purchased by the Brazilian Army.

After the lunch break, the trial resumes, and the expectation is that a decision will be reached tonight. In this phase of the jury trial, 26 military police officers are being judged, accused of killing 15 inmates who occupied the second floor of Pavilion 9 in Carandiru prison.