A bill ending the temporary release of prisoners across the country is expected to be voted on soon in the Chamber of Deputies, after 13 years in the making.
A bill ending the temporary release of prisoners across the country is expected to be voted on soon in the Chamber of Deputies, in Brasilia. The original text passed through several commissions and underwent significant changes in the 13 years it was drafted by Congress.
The first, in the Chamber itself, in 2022, planned to completely put an end to the so-called “sadinha”. In the Senate, in February 2014, a more flexible text was approved, on the proposal of Senator Sergio Moro (PL-PR), which allows prisoners who are in a semi-open regime to leave the departments to follow professional and secondary courses or education superior.
In an interview with BBC News Brasil on Monday (19/3), the author of the 2011 bill, MP Pedro Paulo (PSD-RJ), says that the new text distorts the original proposal.
“I do not agree with this text. The project has become much worse. I think we will put an end to the temporary release which is used as a resocialization mechanism and opportunity for the prisoner who is about to return home”, says the deputy.
Pedro Paulo claims that any prisoner “just doesn’t go home if he dies in prison because we don’t have the death penalty.” And he claims that the “little creature” must be adopted so that he can gradually return to live in society.
“The exit (to be observed) from this aspect of resocialization to the community environment, to his family, to the society in which he will live when his sentence ends. This is why the project as it is is a mistake,” he says.
Currently, all prisoners in the semi-open regime can go out up to five times (for a maximum of five days each) a year to visit their family.
In these 13 years of progress, the text proposed by Pedro Paulo has passed through several commissions and a vote in the House in August 2022, before arriving in the Senate.
Last month the Senate approved the project with 62 votes in favour, two against and one abstention. The text has now returned to the Chamber after the Chamber accepted two changes proposed by Senator Sergio Moro (União-PR).
In a document signed on Thursday (14/3), the project’s rapporteur, federal deputy Guilherme Derrite (PL-SP), said he agreed with the changes and promised a quick vote. On Monday (19/3) the leaders’ meeting in which the voting priorities were established decided that the project will be put on the agenda immediately.
The text entered the agenda on the same day, but was never voted on. However, MPs interviewed by the report say the vote. This should happen by Thursday (21st).
The original author of the text, MP Pedro Paulo, states that his intention in proposing the project was to apply stricter criteria to allow exits, not to end the benefit. One of the suggestions was the requirement to use an electronic ankle bracelet for all cases and to carry out criminological tests to certify that the prisoner is fit to leave.
Another point was to veto benefits for people serving sentences for heinous crimes, such as murder, torture and robbery.
“The intention is to have criteria to prevent episodes like the one in Rio de Janeiro from occurring in which the leaders of criminal organizations are sidelined. Or even potential criminals, as is the case of Minas Gerais, in which the guy went out and killed a family man,” Paulo says.
The congressman tells the report that Congress is relying on figures showing “a small amount” of crimes committed during the outings to justify ending the benefit. According to him, only 0.73% of people who have not returned from temporary departures commit some crime.
“This new text punishes a universe of convicts who are entitled to benefits. We are in a tsunami of conservative energy and legislative blindness. Everyone wants to vote with their guts and without looking at the numbers.”
With this scenario, MP Pedro Paulo says he faces a dilemma.
“My proposal is to tear up this project and start a new one, since there are no more amendments for correction on the merits. But at this point it is almost impossible for this to happen. Therefore, at the regimental level, we have only two options: if vote against, we return to the text approved in the House in 2022 (tougher, which puts an end to any temporary solution). If you vote yes, we keep the Senate text, which is terrible, but less radical.”
When the reporter asks him which one he will choose, he keeps it a mystery: “Difficult.”
What does the project involve?
In addition to limiting releases to studies only, the bill provides for the carrying out of criminological exams so that prisoners can progress in their sentence, for example going from closed to semi-open. They evaluate the physical health and neurological, psychiatric and social conditions of the inmate.
In this way, the convicted person will have the right to study outside the unit in which he is detained only if he has a record of good conduct, certified by the prison director and through these exams.
Even if the prisoner has all these points approved, he will not have the approved permission to attend vocational courses, secondary or higher studies if he is serving a sentence for committing a heinous crime, which involved violence or a serious threat to the life of another person .
During the outing, the use of an electronic ankle monitor will also be mandatory to ensure monitoring of the child. This will ensure that you do not leave the designated study area.
The proposal is that the law be called Sergeant PM Dias, in honor of the military policeman killed in Minas Gerais, mentioned by the MP. This Prime Minister was killed by a man benefiting from the party earlier this year.
On that occasion the criminal shot and killed the policeman who was chasing him.
Source: Terra
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