Brazilian Cops are Creating Illegal Criminal Records for Arrested Protestors

June 25th, 2014

David Schulberg

Brazilian authorities have reportedly begun to put arrested protestors on a list that is being called the “protestors register.” This list classifies all persons arrested at a demonstration as highly dangerous, and being added to the list stays on the criminal record of anyone who is added to it forever. This means that any potential employer will be able to see what demonstration someone was arrested at, and “why.”

The “why” is complicated. Brazilian police allege a number of different charges towards protestors, such as wearing a mask, property damage, or posession of incineary devices. This means that whatever the police allege a protestor is doing, regardless of evidence, is permanently attached to their criminal record.

This new practice is being deemed illegal by legal experts, who say that this practice is unconstitutional.

Lawyer Fabiana Bevilaqua posted on her personal page on Facebook about the situation:

“You don’t need juridical formation to know that a person can only be arrested for a flagrant crime, or by court order, and that you have the right to know the name of the person (cop) who is driving you (identification) as well as the charge alleged against you, and the place where you will be taken. It is also known that the state can not define you as a criminal for nothing, unless otherwise provided by law, just because they took you for inquiry. However, what we have witnessed over the demonstrations / protests in Rio de Janeiro is totally different from the national legal system. People are arrested and sent to police stations for inquiry (illegally, based on nothing) or alleged acts, or mere “sarqueamentos” (arrest for investigation of criminal record which, incidentally, has no legal grounds). Military police do not identify themselves at the time of arrest, do not report the reason, nor the police headquarters where they will take the person held. Many of them handcuff suspects, despite the Binding Precedent No. 11 STF (Supreme Court) traverse about, and continue “wandering” through the city to finally show up after hours, at a distant station of the local prison. In police stations, although in many cases there are no indictments, proceed with the “sarques.” However, our police have the power to reinvent themselves, and have now instituted PF – Records of Individuals (protestors register) – which translates into an internal register of the protesters, where these individuals are identified and photographed. It is noteworthy that there is NO legal predicate for such an act. Lawyers are being “gently” embarrassed and their prerogatives are being violated. In a certain precinct, lawyers must register to monitor the depositions. In another, detainees are taken to a room and interrogated without the presence of lawyers, even if they are present in police headquarters. Are these the guidelines of the Department of Public Safety? I would very much appreciate it if

Mr. Secretary Deign came forward and clarified this. Besides the blatant illegalities, there is a huge waste of public money! And the Public Ministry, when will it confront the Secretary of Public Safety and require enforcement the law? It is worth mentioning that this body does not need to be provoked to act. It has a legal duty. It is the “legis costs.” In the Judiciary, depending on the “convincing” of the judge, arrests have been made and/or upheld in totally atypical cases or judges are acting with a power which is not conferred on them and legislate, as the case of the court decision that prohibited the use of masks.
Conclusion: We have unlearned the Law, new law prevails and we were not informed or aberrations are being practiced in defiance of the law, but with connivance of the State.”

For more information in Portuguese, check out this piece by Coletivo Carranca