Brazil: arrested protesters report mistreatment in prisons

After spending days in a situation that is compared by some to Nazi concentration camps while waiting for the Federal Police to triage in Brasilia, demonstrators arrested at the behest of the STF Justice, Alexandre de Moraes, complain of mistreatment in the cells of the Penitentiary Complex of Papuda and the Feminine Penitentiary in Brasilia, known as Colméia.

The protesters are accused of participating in the acts of Jan. 8 that ended in riots inside the headquarters of the Three Powers.

Complaints of overcrowding, bad food, bad smell, cold showers, lack of medication, and poor cleaning and hygiene items were taken to the Public Defender of the Federal District (DPDF) by lawyers for the demonstrators.

“Considering the number of beds available, which are 8 per cell as a rule, this would be the ideal amount for anyone to sleep on the floor.”

“In recent visits, between 16 and 22 were recorded in these cells. It is important to point out that in other units in Papuda, such as the CIR (Center for Internment and Prison), it is common to find cells with more than 22 people, often there are more than 30 people in similar spaces”, said the public defender of the Collective Guardianship of Prisoners of the Penal Execution Nucleus, Felipe Zucchini.

According to the protesters’ lawyers, not all cells have a toilet, and many prisoners are forced to relieve themselves on the floor.

Last Wednesday (Jan. 18), the DPDF (Public Defender of the Federal District) met with the Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU) and the State Department of Penitentiary Administration of the Federal District (Seape) to seek a solution.

After the meeting, defender Felipe Zucchini said that the Secretariat was open to suggestions.

With information from Brasil Sem Medo