The MP-RJ and the CNJ investigate the case of a militiaman released by mistake

The Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro (MP-RJ) and the National Council of Justice (CNJ) have initiated procedures to investigate the release of Peterson Luiz de Almeida, leader of the militia called “Bonde do Zinho”, which operates in the western area. from Rio in January.

Peterson was taken into protective custody, but was released after a reporting error.

The militiaman was arrested in August this year and detained by the Rio de Janeiro Justice Court (TJ-RJ) on October 26. However, he was released from Benfica prison last Sunday (29) after an error in judicial notification.

According to the State Secretariat for Prison Administration (SEAP), there was no trace of the prison being converted into a detention center, as the Rio de Janeiro Justice Court had sent the communication to an email disabled for five years.

Search by CNNthe court agency reported that an officer conducted the summons at the prison unit where Peterson was being held and discovered he had already been released.

The Rio Public Ministry announced that it had opened a civil investigation last Tuesday (31), and that it would transmit “the current news to the Support Center for Investigative Prosecutors’ Offices for dissemination and analysis of possible responsibilities in matters criminal.”

Still according to the agency, “the first investigations reveal a dysfunction in the functioning of the National Bank of Arrest Warrants (BNMP) administered by the National Council of Justice (CNJ) with regard to the registration of arrest warrants, in addition to restrictions on access to the bank by public security agencies of the State of Rio de Janeiro”.

According to the prosecution, there is no institutional protocol that establishes the forms and flows of communication between the judicial bodies and the State Secretariat for Prison Administration.

Without this, according to the MP-RJ, “informal practices end up occurring, generating inconsistencies, legal insecurity and even space to investigate illicit practices, sometimes favoring unjustified release, sometimes leading to the unjustified detention of people deprived of liberty.”

The National Council of Justice indicated that the BNMP “does not carry out document flow and does not exclude the need for formal and timely communication to issue an arrest warrant to penitentiary establishments and to the detainee -even “.

In a note, the agency said that “it is investigating the circumstances of the release, including compliance with the standards indicated above, and will take all necessary measures after clarifying the facts.”