Supreme Court sentences another 10 over Jan. 8 riots

Brazil’s Supreme Court has sentenced 10 more people over the anti-democratic riots of January 8 last year. This brings the number of people charged with involvement in the ransacking of government headquarters in Brasília to 216.

By a majority of votes, seven people were sentenced to 14 years in prison, two to 17 years, and another to 11 years and 11 months, following a session ended Monday (May 6).

All were convicted of the crimes of armed criminal association, violent abolition of the rule of law, attempted coup d’état, qualified damage, and deterioration of protected heritage. They had been indicted by the Prosecutor-General’s Office.

In the end, the view of Justice Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur in the case, prevailed. He maintained that the individuals involved participated in the crimes collectively, all contributing to an attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government, as stated in the indictment.

The counsel for each defendant argued that their indictments failed to individualize the conduct of the defendants, who had attended the protests with peaceful intentions and could not be held responsible for crimes committed collectively.

Justice Moraes refuted the arguments, pointing to evidence submitted by the Prosecutor-General’s Office, including CCTV footage from Congress, the Planalto presidential palace, and the Supreme Court itself, as well as text messages by the defendants attesting to their participation in the crimes.

The convicts were also sentenced to collectively pay a fine of BRL 30 million as reparation for the damage caused to public property.

Another 19 appeals against past convictions were rejected by the Supreme Court. Justice Moraes also approved a further 31 non-prosecution deals between prosecutors and the January 8 defendants accused of less serious crimes, like inciting animosity targeting the Armed Forces.

Altogether, the Prosecutor-General's Office filed around 1,400 charges linked to the pro-putsch demonstrations of January 8. So far, 203 agreements have been reached with defendants accused of less serious crimes.