Juan case: witnesses testify on the 1st day.
On the first day of the trial for the crime against Juan de Moraes Neves, an 11-year-old boy killed in June 2011, two prosecution witnesses testified against three military police officers; they are accused of the deaths of Juan and Igor Souza Afonso, as well as two attempted homicides.
Vladimir Platonow
Reporter from Agência Brasil
Rio de Janeiro – On the first day of the trial for the crime against Juan de Moraes Neves, an 11-year-old boy killed in June 2011, two prosecution witnesses testified against military police officers Isaias Souza do Carmo, Edilberto Barros do Nascimento, Ubirani Soares, and Rubens da Silva. They are accused of the deaths of Juan and Igor Souza Afonso, and of two attempted murders against Wanderson dos Santos de Assis and Wesley Felipe Moraes da Silva, Juan's brother.
The trial that began this Monday (9) is expected to last for another three days, during which 35 witnesses will be heard, 14 for the prosecution and 21 for the defense. Wanderson and Wesley testified during the afternoon and denied that there had been an exchange of gunfire with the police. Wanderson was shot three times and Wesley was hit by two shots. Wesley guaranteed that he and his brother were not carrying any weapons. He is currently part of the witness protection program.
The crimes occurred during an operation by the 20th Military Police Battalion (Mesquita), in the Danon Favela, in Nova Iguaçu. Juan's body was only found a month and a half later, on the banks of the Botas River, and a DNA test was necessary to confirm his identity. The police chief who presided over the investigation at the time, Ricardo Barbosa, concluded that the military police officers should be preventively detained, based on forensic evidence, mainly ballistics tests.
The trial was scheduled to resume at 10 am this Tuesday (10), when more prosecution witnesses and the first defense witnesses for the PMs are expected to testify.
Editing: Fabio Massalli