Paulo Teixeira: "Moraes is no longer fit to be Minister of Justice"
In an interview with 247, federal deputy Paulo Teixeira (PT-SP) states that, "with the events in Amazonas and Roraima, and with the abundant documentation showing that the federal government knew [about what was happening in the prison system in those states], the continued presence of Minister Alexandre de Moraes became untenable"; according to him, Moraes, who even said that he did not receive a request for help from Roraima, where 33 inmates died, but was contradicted by an official letter from Governor Suely Campos, "is no longer able" to manage the prison crisis.
Gisele Federicce, 247 – Federal deputy Paulo Teixeira (PT-SP) states that, "with the events in Amazonas and Roraima, and with the abundant documentation showing that the federal government knew [about what was happening in the prison system in those states], Alexandre de Moraes's continued presence in the Ministry of Justice became untenable."
After the massacre that left 33 dead at the Monte Cristo Agricultural Penitentiary in Boa Vista, Roraima – the second this week, after the 60 in two prisons in Manaus – Moraes denied having received a request for help from the state government. However, a letter from Governor Suely Campos, requesting in November the deployment of the National Force to assist in prison security, contradicted the member of Michel Temer's team. He denied providing assistance to the governor at the time. According to Teixeira, for this reason, the minister "is no longer able" to manage the prison crisis.
The congressman also described the behavior of Michel Temer's government in this episode as "negligent." Teixeira, one of the rapporteurs for the draft bill of the New Code of Criminal Procedure, currently under consideration this year and which will propose a chapter on restorative justice focusing on decarceration, questions "what measures were taken to prevent these two massacres."
He points out that federal agencies and corporations such as the Federal Police and ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency) are part of crisis management groups with the states, as reported by the Secretary of Public Security of Amazonas, and that they therefore obtained information regarding the prison system. "This demonstrates that they were negligent," he states.
The congressman will request the presence of Moraes, the Attorney General of the Republic, Rodrigo Janot, and the heads of the Federal Police and ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency) in the Chamber of Deputies to provide clarifications on the actions taken by the federal government in this regard. The authorities should be summoned through the CCJ (Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship) or by the plenary of the House.
Teixeira believes that Moraes, with his discourse of placing all the blame on the State of Amazonas, is trying to deflect the share of blame that would fall on the Federal Government. "He is trying to avoid his responsibility. By shifting the blame to the State, which is also responsible, he wanted to remove the share of blame that he has," he says.
The new National Public Security Plan, announced this week by Michel Temer, is defined by him as "nonsense." "It has no committed resources, no deadlines, that's all nonsense. That's nonsense from the Minister of Justice, who has done most of all talk, it's just empty words," criticized Teixeira, who is leading the study for a new public security policy at CEDES (Center for Studies in Economic and Social Law).
At the end of 2016, the federal government released R$ 1,2 billion to the states for the construction of prisons and the modernization of the penal system. According to the website of the NGO Contas Abertas, the National Penitentiary Fund (Funpen) still has R$ 2,4 billion to transfer to the states.
According to the Ministry of Justice, a new allocation of R$ 1,8 billion is planned for the first half of 2017. The ministry's press office informed 247 that, with this funding, each state will have to build a new prison. Temer also announced this week the construction of five new federal prisons.
According to Paulo Teixeira, the State should be solely responsible for managing prisons – the Manaus prison complex, where 56 inmates died over the weekend, was privatized. "Privatizing prisons is not a measure, it's a risk. It's another flawed model that will lead to a promiscuous relationship. The State has to take care of the prisons," he says.
According to him, "the federal government has to take charge of managing the crisis in the prison system. It needs to coordinate with the states and the judiciary, which has ordered many unnecessary imprisonments." Teixeira also believes that the legislature has adopted measures that exacerbate the crisis instead of combating it, and that the executive branch needs to coordinate efforts to ensure reforms are made and immediate measures are taken.