After being extradited from Russia to Brazil last Wednesday (2), businessman and economist Eduardo Fauzi Richard Cerquise, accused of an attack on the headquarters of the producer Porta dos Fundos, in December 2019, is being held in the José Frederico Marques, in Rio de Janeiro.
In a custody hearing held this Friday (4), Judge Ariadne Villela Lopes denied the relaxation of the preventive detention requested by Fauzi’s defense.
The economist was escorted by federal police on a flight from Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport to Rio. In a statement, the PF stated that the extradition is “the result of a joint effort by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Federal Police”.
During the custody hearing, Fauzi’s defense claimed that because the process had been transferred from federal to state courts, the arrest warrant had lost its validity. However, Judge Ariadne Villela justified the excess of time and assessed that this analysis will be up to the court responsible for the case.
The preventive arrest warrant was issued by the judgment of the 2nd Federal Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro, of the Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region, valid until 01/10/2041. The Public Prosecutor’s Office had also manifested itself in favor of maintaining the preventive detention.
Fauzi’s lawyer, Diego Rossi, told CNN who “understands that there is no arrest warrant issued by a competent judge. The decision of the custody judge to maintain precautionary segregation (prison) is totally unreasonable”.
Fauzi was detained by Interpol in Moscow in September 2020, where he remained until the court authorized the extradition. He was identified by security cameras as one of those responsible for throwing Molotov cocktails (explosive artifact made with a bottle of gasoline and a lit fuse) at the facade of the production company. The action would be a reprisal for the producer’s Christmas special that portrayed Jesus as gay.
Before being located by the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, the businessman fled to Russia. Then the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued an arrest warrant.
Process return
The case was being processed in the federal court, however, judge Marcello Ferreira de Souza Granado, decided that Fauzi would no longer be accused of the crime of terrorism, as had been requested by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF).
Thus, the case left the jurisdiction of the Federal Court and the case file returns to the Court of Justice of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
Source: CNN Brasil