The Justice of Rio relaxed the preventive detention of the German consul in Rio de Janeiro, Uwe Herbert Hahn, 60 years old, arrested since the 7th of this month for the death of her husband, Belgian Walter Henri Biot, 52, found dead in the couple’s penthouse, on Rua Nascimento e Silva, in Ipanema, south of Rio. The decision is by the judge Rosa Helena Macedo Guita, of the 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Justice.
Two days after the arrest of the German consul on the 9th, the same judge Rosa Helena Guita had denied a request for freedom made by the diplomat’s defense. In the decision, the magistrate wrote “that there were no illegalities” in the arrest of Uwe Hahn.
In the recent request for reconsideration of the arrest in flagrante delicto, the defense of the consul asked for the revocation of the precautionary custody, alleging absence of the arrest in flagrante and, also, due to the personal inviolability of the accused. The defense argued that there is too much time to file the complaint.
In the decision to grant the habeas corpus in favor of the German consul, the judge wrote: “In fact, the patient has been in preventive detention since August 7, 2022 (date of his custody hearing) and, according to information extracted from the website of this Court of Justice, it appears that up to the present date the denunciation has not yet been offered, 9 days after the legal period of 10 days has expired”.
Judge Rosa Helena Guita also wrote in the decision that “considering the blatant excess of time for the criminal action, I grant the injunction, in order to relax the prison of patient Uwe Herbert Hahn”.
The magistrate also ordered the immediate issuance of a release permit. Without prejudice, she ordered the dispatch of an official letter to the Internal Affairs Office of the Public Prosecutor’s Office so that it becomes aware and adopts the measures it deems appropriate.
In a note, the Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ) said that “the 1st Prosecutor’s Office at the IV Court of the Jury of the Capital informed that it was not, to date, summoned to file a complaint. Therefore, the deadline for offering the accusatory piece has not even started”, clarified the MPRJ’s advice.
