MPPE authorizes the use of masks in demonstrations.
The controversy generated by the State Government's decision to prohibit the use of masks during street demonstrations has come to an end; the Public Prosecutor's Office of Pernambuco (MPPE) says there is no legal provision to prohibit the use of masks in public acts; although celebrated by groups of protesters and various civil society entities, the situation divides opinions; one of the defenders of the prohibition is journalist Sebastião Nery, who praises Governor Eduardo Campos' decision to prohibit the use of masks and states that, in this case, "Brazil has a governor without a mask. At least one."
PE247 - The controversy generated by the State Government's decision to prohibit the use of masks during street demonstrations has come to an end with an official position taken by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Pernambuco (MPPE). According to the MPPE, there is no legal provision to prohibit the use of masks in public acts. The announcement of the prohibition, made by the Secretary of Social Defense, Wilson Damázio, after a protest in Recife that ended with public buildings being vandalized and buses set on fire, divided opinions. Supported by the MPPE's decision, the demonstrators should intensify invitations for the "1st Damázio Masked Ball", a demonstration scheduled to take place this Thursday (29), in front of the building of the Secretariat of Social Defense (SDS). The objective is to satirize the government's attitude in prohibiting the use of masks in popular acts.
On one side, protesters and internet users condemned the decision, and on the other, people who, even supporting the demonstrations, are opposed to acts of vandalism. This Wednesday (28), journalist Sebastião Nery dedicated his column to discussing... masks. Recalling the actions of people like former governors Miguel Arraes (PE) and Seixas Dória (SE), who were imprisoned by the Military Regime and exiled to the island of Fernando de Noronha, Nery ends the text praising the decision to prohibit the use of masks by protesters. Now, with the decision of the MPPE, the police must act according to what the law stipulates: allow the use of masks and only act rigorously against those who commit some kind of infraction.
"Whoever said that wearing a mask is a crime doesn't know the Penal Code," stated the Attorney General of Justice, Aguinaldo Fenelon. According to the prosecutor, if the police prevent protesters from wearing masks, the police officer will be committing a criminal offense. "Those who wear masks peacefully should be respected by the authorities. Any officer who does not respect this legal right will be committing abuse of power," declared Fenelon, according to the Jornal do Commercio.
According to MPPE (Public Prosecutor's Office of Pernambuco), searches may be carried out when there is evidence of a crime. "There is no reason to prohibit it as long as the person is not committing an illegal act, such as carrying Molotov cocktails, stones, or any type of weapon," added the prosecutor.
The decision, while celebrated by members of popular movements demanding the implementation of free public transportation and the establishment of a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) to investigate irregularities in the public transportation system, also met with resistance. In an article titled "A Governor Without a Mask," journalist Sebastião Nery recalls a case experienced by opponents of the military regime who ended up imprisoned and exiled to Fernando de Noronha.
Citing Miguel Arraes, Sérgio Dória, and the federal deputy for the PSB, Mário Lima, Sebastião Nery states that the three “were men without masks” and that the current governor of Pernambuco, Eduardo Campos (PSB), honored the legacy of his grandfather Miguel Arraes by cracking down on a “handful of little fascists from the Black Bloc, daddy's boys with covered faces and black clothes, terrorizing and destroying centuries-old monuments, palaces, architectural jewels like the Itamaraty Palace.”
A little further on, Nery says that the press, in general, and "cheerful groups from the OAB (Brazilian Bar Association) and NGOs Vadiam" want the police to only act "in flagrante delicto" (when the crime is caught in the act), in addition to accusing the institution of using rubber bullets, pepper spray, and bombs. According to him, abuses should be reported, "but how to confront hooded, drugged, stipended vandals, with stones and Molotov cocktails in their backpacks, iron bars in their hands? With kisses on the mouth?", he wrote.
At the end of the article, Nery says that “The country thanks Governor Eduardo Campos for the lesson in transparency and citizenship. Marches, protests, are part of democracy. But hiding behind masks to vandalize shop windows and cities is not. It's good that Brazil has a governor without masks. At least one,” he concludes.
Now that the ban on masks being worn by protesters has been lifted, it remains to be seen what category the Public Prosecutor's Office of Pernambuco (MPPE) will fall under later. Regardless, the protesters organizing the 1st Damázio Masked Ball in downtown Recife promise to wear masks the entire time.