Rio de Janeiro Court removes judge from Costa Verde

The Special Body of the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ) unanimously decided to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Judge Rafael de Oliveira Fonseca, head of the Single Court of the District of Mangaratiba, on the Green Coast of Rio.

"I am voting for the initiation of disciplinary proceedings for violation of article 35, items I and VIII of Complementary Law 35/79," stated the Inspector General of Justice, Judge Antonio José Azevedo Pinto.

The judges also voted to remove the magistrate from office and to forward documents to the Public Prosecutor's Office for investigation of criminal wrongdoing. According to the decision, further documents will be extracted so that the General Inspectorate of Justice can open disciplinary proceedings against the employee Rinaldo Conti de Almeida.

"There will be the necessary rigor to ensure that we have the facts ascertained with the greatest possible depth," declared the president of the TJRJ (Rio de Janeiro State Court of Justice), Judge Manoel Alberto Rebêlo dos Santos, during the session.

The magistrate is suspected of illegally authorizing wiretaps and then destroying the recordings, passing on weapons, cars, and cell phones seized in police operations to his aides, and receiving bribes to grant release orders to militiamen in Itaguaí, where he served as a criminal judge. Judge Azevedo Pinto, the case's rapporteur and Justice Inspector, also requested that documents be sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office for possible criminal action against the magistrate, and that proceedings be initiated to investigate Rafael's chief of staff for producing illegal evidence in an attempt to exonerate the judge.