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Show The Salt Lake Tribune WORLD Thursday, December 3, 1998 _ Cop Case Shows Injustice of Brazilian Justice System \cquittal in slum massacre case stuns community 1T-RIDDER NEWS SERVICE RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — hen the judge announced the t just after midnight — ac- killing eight of 10 adults, then threw a grenade into a bar and shot seven patrons. Altogether, 21 people died, including twochildren in 1993, human-rights advocates say a Murderers are rarely Fifty-two police were charged Brazil — only 8 percent ofca in the murders, but only two have tting all 10 former policeoffi- ever reach the courtroom, police ring and thenjoyously and while convictions often bring showy sentencesin the b Of years, little time is ever actual the maximum penalty for any Saturday night’s verdict automatic for sentences of more eir black-robed lawyer ir shoulders. ked with disbelief, family of the 21 victims simply and walked away ight that one or another e absolved. but not all of said Rita da Silva, the wid- of the victims. Five years after hooded offaty ice massacred 21 resi- Vigario Geral, one of stice lical Christian family, most violent slums, Brazil's systemis, its crities say he country an interna al black eye. Por half a decade, the system failed to adequately punish police involved in a sef massacres, including the murder ofeight street 1 near Candelaria Church figures show — been convicted. They received sentences of morethan 400 years justice is slow each. nder Brazilian law, however ly served crime disappoin lier convicted in the Candelaria This acquittalcertainly leaves killings and sentenced to hun- dreds of years are expected to lots of frustration in the said Rubem Cesar Fernandes, coordinator of Viva Rio, acivicanti-vio- serve fewer than 10, and in police barracks rather than prison. We sink lower all the time in lence group. “Theoverall expec been done On Aug. 19, 1993, according to prosecution testimony, the 10 defend: andother off. tary police entered Vi to avenge the ambush bank robbers in trict recently were fatally shot in the middle of a crowded city street. Newspapers for days car- ried photographs of families shaking the handsof the military police shooter. In the Vigario Geral trial, de- nmen sprayed meof an evan- consistent, most people favor street justice bypolice, including executions ofcriminals caught in "ag845)ViNCRO Ta) details of the case. Families of the victims and the lead defense attorney exchanged heated words near the erd of the trial after the attorney described which other inmates suggested at least one murder victim as a the 10 were uninvolved in the massacre. Prosecutors in five days presented voluminousevidence link- bum. “He wasn’t a bum. He was my son,” objected Carlos de Freitas fromthe gallery. “He was an un- ing bullet fragments to police weapons, but the exhausted jury headandthe back. Your client is a — trials go nearly round-the- murderer ” (>> \t's HOOVER Time. , Introducing the New C/ Self-Propelled aid Cristina Leonardo, a law yer for the families of the Vigario Geral victims. “This .asn't just Vigario that lost. This was a societal loss against organized Because court action against criminals in Brazil is slow and in overwhelmed and confusedby the fense attorneys presented carefully edited jail-house tapes in TecnwaLoay WindTunnel™ Ultra crime murders of four police by drug dealersin the sprawling slum The hooded gunfireinto the Attempted Rio's posh seaside Ipanema dis- azil. There's shameless impuni- tation was they would be found guilty. People feel justice has not is 30 years andretrials are than 19 years. Severalpolice ear- brought only more confusion and the act. clock in Brazil — reportedly was FOR VIRTUALLY EFFORTLESS | NEW BREATHE EASY™ | Up-front covered tool storage, # Allergen Filtration, SOFT GUARD furniture protection, edge groomers. 15-inch cleaning width, brilliant headlight. 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