Victim of a setup, Cabrini may be entitled to compensation.

247 – After having his career threatened by a setup, journalist Roberto Cabrini may seek revenge in court. The Internal Affairs Department of the São Paulo Civil Police released a report confirming that the drugs seized from the journalist's car in 2008 were planted in the vehicle's glove compartment by civil police officers. Now, Cabrini can claim two compensations, one in a lawsuit against the State and another against the media outlets that irresponsibly reported the fact. Currently, the journalist works at SBT, presenting the program Conexão Repórter, but at the time of the false arrest, Cabrini was an employee of Rede Record and was investigating the funding sources of criminal factions.

Read the article below from Consultor Jurídico:

A report released by the Internal Affairs Department of the São Paulo Civil Police confirms what Alberto Zacharias Toron, the lawyer for journalist Roberto Cabrini, has been alleging since April 2008: his client was the victim of a police setup. According to the report, all the narcotics found in the glove compartment of his car were placed there with the sole intention of incriminating him. At the time of the false arrest, as the investigators concluded, the reporter was working on a story about drug trafficking. He was indicted for drug trafficking, since the quantity of drugs found in his car exceeded that for personal consumption. (Information from the website Comunique-se.)

If confirmed, the conduct of the civil police officers accused of planting ten packets of cocaine in the journalist's car could be classified, at least, under article 339 of the Penal Code, which defines false accusation. This warning comes from criminal lawyers Maurício Zanoide, of Zanoide de Moraes, Peresi & Braun Advogados, and Leonardo Avelar, of Moraes Pitombo Advogados, who explain that the action can be understood within two universes: that of Criminal Law and that of Criminal Procedure Law.

Also from Moraes Pitombo Advogados, the specialist in Civil Procedural Law, Claudio Daolio, points out another development in the story. According to him, Cabrini can claim two compensations. One in an action against the State and another against media outlets that irresponsibly disseminated the news. "The first is obvious. The second is more complex," he assesses. For him, the State has objective responsibility in the case. That is, regardless of fault. He also points to the possibility of procedural fraud, as typified in article 347 of the Penal Code. "But, for that, it is necessary to study the report, which is under judicial secrecy."

According to the report, in addition to the six police officers, a businessman, a police chief, and a businessman are involved in the setup. The latter is Oscar Maroni, owner of the Bahamas nightclub and suspected of having participated in the staging. At least that is what the released report indicates. Cabrini's arrest would be retaliation for reports about the businessman's brothel. "Evidently," the document says, "this story cost him dearly, like a wound that heals, but leaves a scar."

At the time of the events, the São Paulo Press Association (API) sent a letter of support to the journalist. The association's president at the time, João Baptista de Oliveira, spoke on his own behalf. "The president of the association, particularly in his dual capacity as a journalist and lawyer, duly registered with the São Paulo Bar Association and a member of the state council of the order, will make every effort to guarantee the rights and prerogatives that belong to our distinguished colleague as a communications professional," the letter stated.

Now, in an interview with the magazine Consultor Jurídico, the current president, Sérgio de Azevedo Redó, endorsed the previous position. “API repudiates any act that aims to restrict the work of journalists from any state in the country.” He added: “We are prepared to take legal action to redress the damages suffered by Cabrini, who is one of the leading investigative journalists in the country, and by the media outlet where he worked at the time. Investigative journalism is one of the powers of democracy.” In 2008, Cabrini was at Record, but had previously worked at Band and Globo. Today, he presents the program Conexão Repórter on SBT.

With entrapment, all evidence derived from it becomes inadmissible, states lawyer Luciano Almeida, from Vilardi & Advogados Associados. The prohibition of the use of this type of evidence is expressly stated in law. According to article 157 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, "illegal evidence, understood as evidence obtained in violation of constitutional or legal norms, is inadmissible and must be removed from the proceedings."

When Cabrini was arrested, he was accompanied by businesswoman Nadir Dias da Silva. According to Cabrini's statement at the time of his arrest, she was a source and would lead the journalist to material that would prove that the controversial interview he conducted in May 2006 with Marcos Herbas Camacho, alias Marcola, leader of the criminal faction PCC, was genuine.

Cabrini accused the woman of threatening the journalist. According to Toron, the journalist's lawyer, the drugs were found in the glove compartment, in the passenger seat, where the woman was sitting. She was released and listed as a witness in the investigation. "It was absurd. He is neither a drug dealer nor a user," Toron said at the time.

She is one of the suspects in orchestrating the sting operation alongside the police officers. Therefore, the woman can be considered an accomplice. The report cites Nadir's participation. According to the conclusions, she bought the drugs and negotiated the arrest with Detective Edmundo Barbosa, head of the 100th Precinct.

While Zanoide frames the conduct under Article 339 of the Penal Code — which is causing the initiation of a police investigation, judicial process, administrative investigation, civil inquiry, or action for administrative misconduct against someone, imputing a crime to them knowing they are innocent — and under Article 3 of the Law on Abuse of Authority, Augusto Arruda Botelho, vice-president of the Institute for the Defense of the Right to Defense, believes that the penalty of two to eight years, as foreseen for false accusation, is not sufficient for the case. "It is necessary to analyze the details of the conduct," he says.