The historic beginning of the imprisonment of general officers, convicted of participating in the coup plot, means that there is a “maturing of democracy” in the country. This was the assessment of history professor Mateus Gamba Torres, from the University of Brasília (UnB), in an interview with the television news program Reporter Brazilfrom the TV Brasilthis Wednesday (26).
Check out the interview with Repórter Brasil.
This week, in addition to the imprisonment of former president Jair Bolsonaro (who is an Army reserve captain), generals Augusto Heleno Pereira, Paulo Sergio Nogueira, Walter Braga Netto and admiral Almir Garnier were arrested.
As a result of the conviction, they will be subject to an action for loss of official status and will be tried by the Superior Military Court (STM). It is the first time in the country’s history that military personnel have been arrested for direct involvement in a coup.
Professor Mateus Torres told TV Brasil that, after 40 years of the redemocratization process, there is a path towards consolidating the government system.
“Even if the military decided to attempt a coup, as happened several times in the Republic, this is now no longer accepted by our democracy”, stated the researcher.
“Dirt under the carpet”
Regarding amnesty proposals for coup plotters, Torres recalls that demands like this were successful at other times in Brazil’s history. However, he disagrees with arguments that a possible pardon could pacify the country or reduce polarization.
“Amnesty doesn’t appease anything. It sweeps the dirt under the carpet. Amnesty, in these cases, ensures impunity for coup plotters.” He recalls that, in 1979, torturers were amnestied.
Because of this law at the time, according to the UnB professor, to this day there is a struggle for effective transitional justice, with memory, justice and truth. On the other hand, the researcher understands that the court decision strengthens the view that other countries have of Brazil.
The professor also considers the possibility of military personnel losing their ranks in proceedings before the Superior Military Court after being convicted in civil court as historic.
“There is nothing more unworthy than standing against our democracy. We know that there is corporatism. But, at the moment, there is a climate for this (the loss of patents) to happen”, the professor told Reporter Brazil.
