Supreme Court Justice orders release of Fernandinho Beira-Mar's son.

STJ website - In a single-judge decision, Justice Nefi Cordeiro of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) granted a preliminary injunction in a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Marcelo Fernando de Sá Costa, son of drug trafficker Fernandinho Beira-Mar. Nefi Cordeiro reasoned that the sentence failed to demonstrate, with concrete facts from the case file, the necessity of pretrial detention.

Marcelo Costa was sentenced to 11 years and seven months in prison for the crime of drug trafficking, under a closed regime and without the right to appeal while at liberty, on the grounds that the danger of flight would still persist.

Generic terms

Against the decision, a habeas corpus petition was filed, but the request for a preliminary injunction was denied by the Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region (TRF2), in the following terms: “The first-instance court, in denying the patient the right to appeal while at liberty, does not commit any aberration, is out of step with the 1988 Federal Constitution, shows manifest illegality or abuse of power, and does not contradict any precedent according to the 2015 Code of Civil Procedure or any position established by the members of this court or higher courts on the matter in question.”

According to Minister Nefi Cordeiro, "the decree did not provide any concrete justification for the arrest, merely mentioning that the danger to public safety persists, thus relying on abstract reasoning and generic regulation of preventive detention, demonstrating the absence of grounds for maintaining the precautionary custody."

The minister ordered the release of Marcelo Costa pending the judgment on the merits of the habeas corpus petition by the Sixth Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). Nefi Cordeiro also noted the possibility of the first-instance court imposing alternative precautionary measures to pre-trial detention.