Official
Statement of the PROLUTA Research Project
State
of Exception in Goiás, Brazil
The
Activism Research Program in Comparative Perspective (PROLUTA) of the
Federal University of Goiás expresses its disavowal and indignation
before offensive acts to the democracy and respect for civil rights
perpetrated by the public authorities - Executive, Judiciary and
Public Prosecutor’s Office - of the State of Goiás, against four
undergraduate students who participated in peaceful protests in favor
of the reduction of bus fares in the state capital.
At
six o'clock a.m., May 23th,
2014, the Civil Police of the state of Goiás triggered an operation
called "2.80", with the intention of putting down peaceful
activists who demand reasonable rates of the public urban
transportation. Four students, with ages between 18 and 19, had their
homes stormed, in fulfillment of search and seizure and arrest
warrants issued by the 7th
Criminal Court of Goiânia. One of these students, Ian Caetano de
Oliveira, is a researcher of Proluta and nationally known for his
discipline, earnestness and academic aptitude.
The
students had their homes stormed by police officers and, among other
objects supposedly identified as criminal evidence, they seized
academic books, such as “Rebel Cities" published by renowned
Brazilian publisher Boitempo. The students were later handcuffed in
clear disregard for the Binding Judicial Precedent number 11 of the
Brazilian Supreme Court, and they were taken to a police station
specialized in organized crimes, where they were sent to a common
prison, where they remain up to this day.
The
criminal investigation underlying the pre-trial detention of the
students is Kafkaesque. There is no evidence whatsoever regarding the
alleged conduct of the students, just some compilations of pamphlets
and flyers advocating changes in the pricing policy of public
transportation, extracted from social networks. Conversely, there is
plenty reference to the "subversive" qualities in their
practices and the characterization of the Fighting Front against Bus
Fare Increase as a "criminal organization". Yes, in 2014
young students are in a prison, with no prospect of release, just
because they participated, peacefully, in some social manifestations.
PROLUTA
blames the Executive and the Judiciary of the State of Goiás, as
well as the Public Prosecutor’s Office, for the process of
criminalization of social movements, for restraining the exercise of
civil rights and public demonstrations, and for implementing, in this
federative unit, a state of exception. We demand the immediate
release of the students in regard to constitutional and democratic
order that was and still is severely violated.
