The Minister of Justice and Public Security, Anderson Torres, highlighted the work of the Federal Highway Police (PRF), in a hearing at the Commission on Human Rights and Minorities, this afternoon (15). Torres was invited by the commission to answer questions related to the death of Genivaldo de Jesus Santos, who was killed by federal highway police during an approach in the city of Umbaúba (SE), on May 25. The minister assured that the episode that culminated in Genivaldo’s death was an isolated case and classified the PRF as “one of the best institutions in the world”.
“I am absolutely sure that this act was an isolated act, it does not match the reality of the Federal Highway Police and we are facing, today, for sure, one of the best institutions in the world, the PRF. The numbers are impressive, they have helped a lot in reducing crimes and helped Brazilian society to have a little better days in the face of the serious public security problem that the country is experiencing”, said Torres, highlighting data on drug seizures and approaches in recent years. years old.
Images posted on the internet showed the victim trapped inside a smoky vehicle. Genivaldo struggles with his legs hanging out while a highway patrolman keeps the trunk lid down, preventing the man from getting out. According to the state’s Legal Medical Institute (IML), the victim died of acute failure secondary to asphyxia. Genilvado was reportedly stopped by agents for riding a motorcycle without a helmet.
Also present at the session, the director general of the PRF, Silvinei Vasques, guaranteed that this type of procedure is not taught by the corporation. “What happened in Sergipe was never taught at any Federal Highway Police school, at our university. In no course of the institution was there any kind of guidance for that procedure and the institution understands that that fact is serious and will work for the due investigation”.
Vasques stated that the agents identified as responsible for Genivaldo’s death are at home, attending to the PRF internal affairs department and the Federal Police’s investigations. Torres was questioned by deputies why these police officers are not arrested and he cited a decision by the Federal Court in Sergipe, which denied the arrest warrant for the police.
Deputy Túlio Gadelha (Rede-PE) asked why President Jair Bolsonaro is not charged when he does not wear a helmet in the “motorcycles” in which he participates. Torres stated that the security of the President of the Republic, and how he should participate in events, is not the responsibility of the PRF.
“There are specific laws that regulate the security of the president of the republic. And these laws refer security to the Presidency of the Republic. So, it’s not up to me, it’s not up to the Federal Highway Police. It’s not malfeasance. It is a specific law on security and the president’s participation in public, private, any type of event. It is not the role of the Federal Highway Police to tell the president how he is going and in what way he is going or not going”.
