Lawyer accused of racially abusing fast food attendant is granted provisional release in SP

Lawyer Fabiani Marques Zouki, 46, accused of calling a Burger King store attendant “black” and “monkey” around 11 pm on Thursday (25), was granted provisional freedom at the custody hearing that ended on Friday afternoon (26) at the Barra Funda Criminal Court, in São Paulo.

The decision was made by judge Antonio Balthazar de Matos, from TJ-SP, and took into consideration the fact that the accused was a first-time offender, had a fixed residence and stated that the crimes committed – drunk driving and racism – have “lesser legal repercussions”.

Fabiani, however, will have to comply with a series of measures. Among them are:

• Appear in court monthly;
• Keep your residential address up to date;
• Prohibition of approaching victims, maintaining a distance of at least 300 meters;
• Prohibition on leaving the city for more than eight days;

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The incident was reported at around 11pm on Thursday (25) at a Burger King branch in the Moema neighborhood, in the South Zone of São Paulo. Fabiani, who was showing signs of drunkenness, physically attacked employees and committed racial abuse by calling an employee “black” and “monkey”.

She refused to take the drunk driving test and was taken to the 27th Police District, arrested in flagrante delicto.

Burger King stated, in a note to CNN which does not in any way condone racist offenses, discrimination or physical aggression and which is collaborating with the authorities in the police investigation.

The company also said that it is providing all psychological and legal assistance to the employees involved.

Fabiani’s defense, CNN said that “this is a decision that does not, under any circumstances, conclude an assessment of the fact under investigation”.