The Public Prosecutor’s Office of the State of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ) has charged Civil Police Chief Maurício Demétrio Afonso Alves with crimes of discrimination and racial injury. The complaint reports three episodes in which the chief showed his contempt for black people or made racist insults.
All of the speeches were made via WhatsApp. In one case, in October 2018, Demétrio called a retired police officer a “monkey” and a “nigger.” Similarly, in 2020, Demétrio used the expression “it had to be black” in a conversation when referring to the then Minister of Education.
Another episode was in March 2018, when the then delegate mocked the death of councilwoman Marielle Franco, “which, in the context of what was demonstrated by the evidence in the case, he did so out of racial prejudice, given that the deceased councilwoman was a black woman,” says the complaint.
In addition to the conviction for the two crimes, the MPRJ requires that the delegate be ordered to pay R$100,000 for the moral damages caused to the delegate, as well as R$100,000 as collective moral damages.
Conviction
In January of this year, police chief Maurício Demétrio Afonso Alves, who has been in prison since 2021, was sentenced to 9 years and 7 months in prison for obstruction of justice. The sentence also includes the loss of public office and the payment of a 52-day fine.
According to the decision, the delegate created a complex plan, which included the establishment of fraudulent police and administrative procedures and manipulation of the press, among other actions.
The decision also highlights Maurício Demétrio’s high standard of living, with numerous records of spending on renting mansions, using speedboats and constant international travel.
The measure indicates that the defendant’s guilt is higher, as he is a professional responsible for criminal investigations, and it is a paradox to try to hinder them.
The police officer was arrested when he was head of the Department for the Repression of Crimes Against Intellectual Property (DRCPIM), accused of leading a scheme to collect bribes from shopkeepers in the traditional clothing store on Rua Teresa, in Petrópolis, in the mountainous region of Rio.
