Actor Victor Meyniel, 26, was beaten last Saturday (2) at the entrance of a building in Copacabana, a prime area of Rio de Janeiro. The attack was recorded on the building’s security cameras.
The aggressor is medical student Yuri de Moura Alexandre, who was arrested in the act moments after the action. A custody hearing was held on Monday (4), and the arrest was converted into a preventive one.
Yuri, was booked for bodily injury, insult for homophobia and ideological falsehood, for having lied that he was an Air Force doctor.
See what is known about the case:
Encounter between the actor and the aggressor
According to the testimony given by Victor to the Civil Police, which CNN had access to, the actor and the medical student met at a nightclub. Leaving there, the two went to the apartment where Yuri lives.
Still according to Meyniel’s testimony, initially the two were fine and would have drunk wine and watched music clips. With the arrival of a friend of Yuri’s at the apartment, however, the boy’s behavior changed. He got upset, expelled Victor from the scene and threw the boy’s pair of sneakers at him.
“The woman comes home and Yuri starts to get aggressive. They go down in two separate elevators and meet at the lobby. That’s when Victor asks what happened if no one knew he was gay. That was what triggered the explosion of aggression”, said Maíra Fernandes, Meyniel’s lawyer, in a press conference.
Then, Yuri starts to attack Victor with punches in the face, with the actor lying on the ground. In the recording of the security cameras it is possible to see all the action.
Doorman witnessed the attacks
The man who appears watching the action is Gilmar José Agostini, the building’s doorman. In the images it is possible to see that Agostini observes the aggression, but at no time does he try to interfere or call for help.
In a statement to the police, the employee claims that Meyniel fainted during the attacks. He also says that after a few minutes he decided to help the actor, and called the building manager, who would have called the Military Police.
In the video recorded by the security camera, it is possible to see the doorman lift Meyniel and remove the injured actor from the passage. Then Agostini sits down again. The doorman was booked for failing to provide assistance.
Aggressor is arrested
According to the investigation, after the aggression Yuri left to go to the gym. Upon his return, he was arrested in the act after admitting to the aggression against Victor, on the grounds that he would have disrespected his wife.
In a custody hearing held by the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro on Monday (4), Yuri’s arrest was converted into preventive. The medical student was sent to the chair of Benfica, in the North Zone of Rio.
Defense of aggressor refutes thesis of homophobia
In a note released by Yuri’s lawyers, the defense contests the accusations of homophobia and claims that the medical student had his identity and sexuality “totally erased to be accused”.
During the hearing in which Yuri’s preventive detention was decreed, a marriage certificate was presented by the defense attesting that the medical student would have officially married another man in March 2020.
In relation to the attacks, the note released by the lawyer Lucas Oliveira says that Yuri will answer for his actions, but that “the injuries did not generate incapacity, danger to life or permanent weakness”.
Actor believes in justice
In a statement published on his social networks, the actor stated that “everything is as good as possible”, and that he is recovering physically and emotionally. “Justice is being served, nothing will go unpunished,” he said.
* Under supervision of Vital Neto
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
