Target of Operation Rofésh, by the Federal Police, Pastor Tupirani da Hora Lores was arrested this Thursday (24), in Rio de Janeiro. Leader of the Pentecostal Church Geração Jesus Cristo, he is known for promoting hate speech against the Jewish population and had already been the target of Operation Shalon, which began in March last year.
The action was carried out by the Federal Police’s Cyber Crime Repression Group (PF), which carried out preventive arrest and search and seizure warrants in the Santo Cristo neighborhood, where the church’s headquarters are located, in the central region of the state capital. According to the PF, investigations reveal that the pastor produced and published several videos with attacks on Jews and members of other religions.
The arrest request, made by the PF, motivated by a crime of racism, was determined by the eighth Federal Criminal Court. The name of the operation, Rofésh, means freedom, in Hebrew, the main language of Israel. Both operations are the result of the same investigation. The pastor was arrested wearing a black shirt, which had the inscription “I am not vaccinated”.
The crime news that based the 2020 operation had videos of a face-to-face service, at the congregation’s headquarters, in which Tupirani da Hora Lores asked God to massacre the Jews, to humiliate them, and called for “they be ashamed, as on Monday”. War, and have no strength to raise their servants.”
In another passage, Hora Lores called for divine actions against the Jews and referred to the dispute over the lands of the state of Israel and the Jewish diaspora in an offensive way. “They went out to the nations to share their inheritance for their own benefit, they lay with harlots, Lord. They made alliances, served evil and wanted to feed on the acorns and carob of pigs, God. Because they were left with nothing,” he said.
Responsible for the crime news, the Israeli Confederation of Brazil (Conib) celebrated the operation this Thursday (24). The entity’s lawyer, Ricardo Sidi, says he understands that the pastor represents an atypical case for the Brazilian judiciary.
“The rule is that (accused) remain free until the final decision, but he is a classic example of a case for provisional arrest, because he cannot stop the repeated practice. Prison is a victory, a great service to society, because there is great difficulty in silencing a guy like that”, says the lawyer.
The Israeli Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Fierj) also celebrated the result of the action. President of the entity, Alberto Klein understands that it is necessary to combat what he calls false reception, offered by a series of entities that promote religious intolerance.
“Extremist groups welcome in a different way: they offer love inwards, for those who are part of the group, and hate outwards, which ends up being what people want. They feel part of something and gain a channel to vent hatred, through intolerance and prejudice. This is what society needs to fight,” he says.
In 2009, Tupirani da Hora Lores became the first person convicted of religious intolerance in Brazil. Four years later, he and other members of the religious denomination were arrested for racism, homophobia and xenophobia. The PF informs that, in addition to crimes of racism and threat, the pastor may respond for incitement and apology of crime, which can lead him to serve a sentence of up to 26 years in prison.
In Rio de Janeiro, the Geração Jesus Cristo Church is known for spreading stencils around the city with the inscription “Bible yes, Constitution no”. The arrest comes at a time when accusations of anti-Semitism have been on the rise.
On the 9th, the CNN presented a report by Safernet, a non-governmental organization that maps crimes and human rights violations in the digital environment.
According to the entity, 14,700 anonymous reports of neo-Nazi activities were received on the Brazilian internet in 2020, data that include actions against the Jewish population. A growth of 1,251% in two years, when compared to the 1,071 records of 2019. The Pentecostal Church Geração Jesus Cristo has not yet expressed itself about the pastor’s arrest.
Source: CNN Brasil
