Public Defender files lawsuit against SP government for death of man in Operation Shield

The Public Defender’s Office of the State of São Paulo filed a claim for compensation against the São Paulo government for moral damages for the death of Rogério Andrade de Jesus during Operation Escudo, carried out in July and August 2023.

The action was filed by the agency’s Specialized Center for Citizenship and Human Rights last Monday (30). The amount, not disclosed, would be paid to the victim’s daughter.

The Public Defender’s Office states, in a note, that “the State is objectively responsible for the damages caused to individuals by its agents and that responsibility, therefore, is independent of the existence of intent or fault on the part of the state agent”.

This means that the lawsuit argues that the São Paulo government must answer for the actions of its members. It is the first request made by the agency regarding a person killed by police officers in July 2023.

The group requests that the State provide the following measures to Rogério’s daughter:

• Alimony;
• Medical and psychological treatment;
• Undergraduate scholarship, with a course chosen by the young person.

In August 2023, the Public Defender’s Office of São Paulo had already expressed its repudiation of the actions of the Military Police. At the time, the agency stated that, according to reports, the agents had invaded homes, tortured and executed at least 16 people up until that point.

The Public Security Department reported that, to date, it has not been notified of the Public Defender’s Office’s request.

The department states that deaths during Operation Shield are rigorously investigated, in secret, by the State Department of Criminal Investigations (Deic) of Santos and by the Military Police, with monitoring by the respective internal affairs departments, the Public Ministry and the Judiciary.

Remember Operation Shield

Operation Shield was carried out for 40 days on the coast of São Paulo after the murder of an agent of the Rondas Ostensivas Tobias de Aguiar (Rota), an elite force of the Military Police of São Paulo, during a police operation in Guarujá. In total, 28 people were killed.

In total, six military police officers were charged with the deaths during the operation. Two officers were charged with qualified homicide and procedural fraud: Corporal Ivan Pereira da Silva and Captain Marcos Correa de Moraes Verardino, operational coordinator of Operation Shield.

During the entire operation, 958 people were arrested, of which 382 were wanted by the courts. In addition, 117 firearms and 977 kilos of drugs were seized.