Paulo Galo es un repartidor, en España se conoce su oficio como rider, es decir trabajador de entrega de mercaderías a través de plataformas digitales. Se hizo muy conocido por organizar en Sao Paulo a este colectivo, con una marcada orientación política: Entregadores antifascistas. A finales de julio, participó en un acto colectivo de protesta anti esclavista, deribando y prendiendo fuego a una estattua de un bandeirante esclavista, Borba Gato. Al presentarse voluntariamente a la policía para autoinculparse, fué detenido preventivamente, como su esposa, sobre la base de que su peligrosidad social deducida de su activismo político y de su liderazgo en el movimiento social de los repartidores.
Un grupo de profesores y abogados brasileños publicaron en los periódicos de Sao Paulo un texto en el que denunicaban esta detención arbitraria y clamaban por la puesta en libertad del mismo, lo que felizmente ha sucedido al aplicar un juez el habeas corpus. Sin embargo, conocer este hecho y la crítica razonada que han hecho estos profesores paulistas, sigue siendo interesante.
A continuación, se transcribe la versión inglesa del mismo, que es la que han escogido sus autores para que puedan ser mejor conocidas sus críticas a este hecho, un paso más en la peligrosa deriva autoritaria en la que se encuenta instalado el Brasil de Bolsonaro sin que lamentablemente los medios de comunicación europeos consideren la enorme gravedad que estos procesos revisten.
Galo free[1]
Under the
so-called rule of law, imprisonment is an extreme measure and carried out,
according to legal rules, especially after a broad defense of the accused.
Precautionary arrests, that is, that is, those arrests that occur for specific
legal hypotheses with the premature imprisonment of any citizen, are legally
exceptional. However, its practice has become widespread in Brazil. And in
addition, this is intensified in hypotheses involving young black people -
which is enhanced in the case of social movement leaders.
Recently, the
arrest decrees - temporary and preventive - involving the leader of the
Anti-Fascist Deliverers movement, Paulo Roberto da Lima Silva, better known as
Galo, are a lesson on the anatomy of the excessive aspects of arrests against (especially
black) leaders of social movements in Brazil. It should be noted that, as a
counterpoint to social activism, we are witnessing an inconvenient growth of
"judicial activism" - coming from public agents who are not elected,
and which promote the option of eliminating the freedom of those who intend to
mobilize around agendas of social and popular interest. Despite being
completely unnecessary for criminal charges against Galo, the fact that he is a
leader is a concern of the authorities that authorized the arrest.
On the other
hand, it is common for justice to seek the name of those involved in an action
considered contrary to legality. The problem is to use the prison as if it were
an instrument of torture to obtain denunciations, – it is known that the plea
bargain is a means with criminal benefits; in this case, there is news of the
arrest as a necessary condition for obtaining it. This goes back to the sad
memory of the dictatorial period in Brazil. The possible use of such mechanisms
in any decision involving the fact would be inadmissible. It is not possible to
preserve the criminal investigation from the obligation of denunciation.
Finally, and
perhaps the most evident risk to democratic freedoms is in possible arguments,
referring to the preservation of the supposed public interest for the granting
of preventive detention, which are based on the prevention of future actions.
Here we would be facing a situation that would remind us of the movie Minority
Report. Using the condition of activist, the possible practice of crimes is
anticipated, which would turn Galo into a danger to society in advance. How,
due to the fact of having a political motivation manifested by the intention to
discuss the position occupied by certain characters that strongly stain our
historical process, this would always put him in a position to promote new
attacks against other monuments.
Ultimately,
in the case of such a hypothesis, we would be facing a real premature
conviction, based on considerations of future acts, based on the biased
interpretation of the defendant's political convictions.
Illegal
arrests, fundamentally based on political motivations, at any historical moment
(but especially when there is a resurgence of autocratic postures in the
country), lead us to fear for the fate not only of Galo, but of anyone, since,
in a way, we are driven by political motivations that are embedded in our
personalities and actions. In this line of reasoning, would we all then
inevitably be considered potential criminals?
Kenarik Boujikian, Retired
Judge of the Court of Justice of São Paulo.
Marcus Orione, Professor at
University of São Paulo Law School.
Michael Lowy, Emeritus
Director of Research of the “Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique”
(CNRS).
Ricardo Antunes, Professor of
Sociology at State University of Campinas (Unicamp).
Ruy Braga, Professor of
Sociology University of São Paulo (USP).
