Rio PMs accused of racism will testify next week

The Civil Police will hear next week, all security agents involved in the approach to the promoter of events and influencer, Júlio César Dantas, who denounced having been a victim of racism when leaving a store in downtown Rio, last Wednesday (17). Júlio registered an occurrence this Thursday afternoon (18) at the 5th Police Station (Center), accompanied by his lawyers.

According to the Civil Police Chief, Bruno Gilabert, the fact was registered as a crime of prejudice, based on article 20 of Law No. 7716 of 1989, which deals with “Practicing, inducing or inciting discrimination or prejudice based on race, color, ethnicity , religion or national origin”.

“For now, we are working with the hypothesis of art. 20, but there are still some circumstances to demonstrate. If the crime is found, the penalty is 1 to 3 years”, said police chief Bruno Gilabert.

The approach was carried out on Wednesday (17), in a store in the city center. The action was recorded by Júlio, who broadcast the action live on his Carioquice Negra account, which has more than 800,000 followers on social networks. In the video, he immediately questions the reason for the approach and receives as an answer that he would have entered and left the establishment very quickly.

Throughout the action, Julio questions whether the real fact was the color of his skin. In another excerpt, one of the officers also claims that Júlio had a suspicious volume on his waist. The young man lifts the blouse and shows that there was no object. One agent even said that the volume could be the effect of the wind on the shirt.

The event producer refuses to deliver the identification because he understands that there was no concrete reason for the approach and is accused of disobedience. At first, it is possible to identify two police officers, but soon the number grows and reaches six, according to the boy. Julio was taken by agents to the 5th Civil Police Precinct, in the city center, where he identified himself and was released.

For Rodrigo Mondego, vice president of the State Council for the Defense of Human Rights of Rio de Janeiro and attorney for the Human Rights Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), the police approach needs to be based on some concrete suspicion of a crime committed.

“When there is no motivation for the approach and the person is taken to the police station without justification, it is characterized as an abuse of authority. The person can only be detained in the case of flagrante delicto, in the case of a crime, or by court order. No one can be detained for investigation. This is an instrument used in the dictatorship. It is a violation of the Constitution and the Code of Criminal Procedure. Being black is not a suspicious attitude”, Mondeg pointed out.

In a statement, the advisory of Operation Segurança Presente, linked to the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro, said that the agents suspected Julio for having shown dissatisfaction with the police approach, and highlighted that the approaches are supported by law. Also according to the note, police actions “are not based on skin color, sexual, religious or gender orientation or any personal factor, but on the basis of complaints or behavior that may pose a risk to the community.”

In an interview with CNN, on Thursday (18), Julio commented on what had happened.

“Giant discomfort of knowing that it’s not a new thing, that it wasn’t the last time, that in the last 24 hours it happened again. I’m here for this agenda to be questioned, discussed, for institutions to raise this agenda and reverberate, to change this approach. It was two in the afternoon there, I wondered if it was late at night what it would be,” he said.