Torres Defense Compares Conviction at the STF to Nazi Trials

The defense argues, ‘In all these cases, there was consummated death, physical violence, and extreme cruelty.’ ‘None of them reached the 24-year sentence imposed on Anderson Torres, who did not kill, did not order killings, did not commit physical violence, nor caused any harmful results.’ The lawyers also claim that the imposed sentence disregards Torres’ lack of criminal record and his public trajectory.
The defense questions points of the verdict (the final text of the STF decision on the conviction). For example, they say that Torres did not participate in coup meetings and deny that he was negligent on January 8th. At the time, he held the position of Secretary of Security for the Federal District and traveled to the United States one day before the attacks. The lawyers claim that the STF ministers did not analyze some evidence that would prove he was not negligent, such as Twitter posts and a message where he asked his substitute not to let the coup plotters reach the STF building.
Ramagem questions job loss
Former Abin chief and federal deputy Alexandre Ramagem (PL-RJ) also filed an appeal today. The defense requested a reduction of the 16 years and 1 month prison sentence.
Ramagem’s defense questioned the loss of his position as a Federal Police delegate. According to lawyer Paulo Cintra, the crimes attributed to Ramagem occurred while he was the director-general of Abin (Brazilian Intelligence Agency).
Ramagem’s entries in the Israeli software First Mile were also questioned by the lawyers. The defense argues that the accesses mentioned in the PGR’s indictment occurred on May 15th, 2019, even before he took office in July of the same year.
The date mentioned by the prosecution refers to Ramagem’s entry into Abin, according to the defense. ‘Eager to assign to Alexandre Ramagem the responsibility for events that occurred at Abin even before his appointment, the police authority mentioned the defendant’s access to the agency’s premises on two occasions (only two!), on May 15, 2019 and July 4, 2019, one of them, incidentally, a mistake on the part of the Public Ministry, which treated it as a ‘log of access to the system’ First Mile.’
Heleno requests sentence review and fine reduction
General Heleno’s defense requested a sentence review. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
According to lawyer Matheus Milanez, Heleno’s participation in the coup plot allegedly occurred ‘in a manifestly secondary manner.’ ‘General Heleno’s conduct, then Minister of the GSI, was merely accessory and peripheral to the organizational core, with no elements indicating causal relevance of his actions to the success of the criminal enterprise.’
An approximate fine of R$ 126.6 thousand would lead the general to a ‘wretched situation,’ the lawyer says. The defense states that the fine represents six months of the general’s net salary, which is R$ 23.9 thousand.
Other defendants
Former Defense Minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira’s defense requested acquittal on all charges. They also argued that there was a miscalculation in the sum of the sentences and the total should be 16 years and 4 months. He was sentenced to 19 years.
Lawyers for former Navy Commander Almir Garnier questioned the sentence’s calculation. They consider contradictions in the setting of the base penalties, assessment of guilt, confusion between judicial circumstances and typical elements of crimes of violent abolition of the democratic state and coup d’état, and the justification for the penalty increase for the criminal organization crime. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
The decision ‘does not differentiate between functional and institutional behavior from alleged autonomous criminal contribution,’ according to the defense. They point out that the intention to join a criminal organization was not evident.
Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid’s defense decided not to appeal. According to Folha de S.Paulo, the legal team believes that the two-year sentence has already been served by him, considering the time he was imprisoned and subjected to precautionary measures, and is awaiting Alexandre de Moraes’ response on the extinction of the punishment.