Top court starts trial of first Jan. 8 rioters
Brazil’s Supreme Court today (Sep. 13) is beginning the trial of the first defendants accused of taking part in the January 8 putschist riots.
Nine months after the depredation of the headquarters of the three branches of government, the country’s top court is putting on trial Aécio Lúcio Costa Pereira, Thiago de Assis Mathar, Moacir José dos Santos, and Matheus Lima de Carvalho Lázaro.
They were arrested on the day of the attacks and face charges of attempting to violently abolish the democratic rule of law and to stage a coup d’état, forming an armed criminal association, and damaging public property with a flammable substance. Together, sentences could add up to 30 years in prison.
The four will be tried individually. The rapporteur of the criminal cases, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, will open the session by reading the summary of each case. The reviewing judge, Nunes Marques, will also be given a chance to speak.
The court has scheduled an extra session for Thursday (14), in case the trial cannot be concluded today.
Since the investigations began, 1,300 people have been charged. Last month, Justice Alexandre de Moraes authorized the Prosecutor-General’s Office to propose non-criminal prosecution deals for around a thousand of those who were in the camp set up outside the Army barracks in Brasília and did not take part in the destruction of public buildings.
Under the non-prosecution agreement, those accused of crimes committed without violence or serious threat and with a minimum sentence of four years can confess in exchange for measures other than imprisonment—such as repairing the damage, returning assets resulting from the criminal activities, paying a fine, and doing community service.
