Eight are accused of causing the fire at the Kiss nightclub.

Mariana Tokarnia
Reporter from Agência Brasil

Brasilia - The Public Prosecutor's Office of Rio Grande do Sul has formally charged eight people for the fire at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria (RS). This number corresponds to half of the 16 people indicted by the Civil Police on March 22. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, at least 877 people were in the nightclub on the night of January 27, 241 died and more than 600 were injured. As of today (2), the case is being processed in the 1st Criminal Court of Santa Maria, under the care of Judge Ulysses Fonseca Louzada.

The Public Prosecutor's Office opted to bring the four main defendants in the episode to trial by jury, where they will face charges of aggravated intentional homicide – a crime in which the person assumes the risk through their actions, even knowing that the conduct could result in death, and because it is aggravated, the penalty is increased. The four main defendants are: the co-owners of the Kiss nightclub, Elissandro Calegaro Spohr and Mauro Londero Hoffmann; the lead singer of the band Gurizada Fandangueira, Marcelo de Jesus dos Santos; and the producer and stagehand of the musical group, Luciano Augusto Bonilha Leão.

The Public Prosecutor's Office understood that the owners and musicians assumed the risk of producing the result, even if they did not intend for the fire to occur. Musicians and owners will be charged with intentional homicide with two aggravating circumstances: asphyxiation and base motive. The base motive stems from the fact that fireworks suitable for indoor use were available at the time of purchase, despite being 20 times more expensive.

Also indicted for procedural fraud and perjury were firefighters Gerson da Rosa Pereira and Renan Severo Berleze; former Kiss nightclub partner Elton Cristiano Uroda; and Volmir Astor Panzer, an employee of Elissandro Spohr's father, Eliseo Jorge Spohr. According to the prosecution's indictment, the firefighters committed procedural fraud by submitting documents to the Civil Police that were not originally included in the Kiss nightclub's Fire Prevention Plan (PPCI) and were obtained and authenticated after the tragedy. Elton Uroda and Volmir Panzer committed perjury by stating to the police that Eliseo Spohr was not a partner in the nightclub, when in fact there are indications that he is, although he does not appear in the articles of incorporation. The prosecution is awaiting a police investigation regarding Elissandro's father.

The accusations differ from those made by the Civil Police. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, two firefighters accused by the police of intentional homicide should face charges of manslaughter – when there is no intent to kill – in the Military Court: Gilson Martins Dias and Vágner Guimarães Coelho, firefighters responsible for the inspection.

Three more people had their cases dismissed, meaning they will not face legal proceedings: Ricardo de Castro Pasche, the nightclub manager; Luiz Alberto Carvalho Junior, the Municipal Secretary of the Environment; and Marcus Vinícius Bittencourt Biermann, head of the Registration Sector of the Municipal Finance Department, who issued the nightclub's operating license.

The Public Prosecutor's Office is requesting further investigations to determine the responsibilities of Ângela Aurélia Callegaro, manager of the nightclub and sister of the establishment's owner, Elissandro Spohr; Marlene Teresinha Callegaro, partner and mother of Elissandro; Miguel Caetano Passini, municipal secretary of Control and Urban Mobility; and Beloyannes Orengo de Pietro Júnior, superintendent of Inspection at the Municipal Secretariat of Control and Urban Mobility.

Like the police, the Public Prosecutor's Office asserts that the tragedy was a combination of factors that led to the fire and the deaths. The prosecutors analyzed 13 pages produced by the police during the investigations.

Editing: Fabio Massalli