This Tuesday (29) the second jury of the Curió Case begins, with eight military police as defendants accused of the massacre that took place in Grande Messejana, a neighborhood of Fortaleza, in 2015, leaving 11 dead. Among the victims are six teenagers and two young people aged 18 and 19. In total, there are 33 police officers accused of the crime. The judgment will be held at the Clóvis Beviláqua Forum, in the capital of Ceará.
Edna Carla is the mother of teenager Alef, killed in the Chacina do Curió. She talks about the expectation for the second jury. “The evidence speaks for itself, so we are confident, yes, both me and the other mothers, civil society, the popular movements that accompany us, that help us”, she points out. Carla says she hopes for a judgment “propitious to periphery”. “Because, when we get something favorable to the periphery, it is very important. So my expectation and the expectation of other mothers is that our periphery will stop being killed”, she evaluates. Edna Carla is the founder of the Movimento Mães da Periferia de Vítima de Victim por Violência Policia in Ceará, she is a member of the Cada Vida Importa movement and a social researcher.
Fernanda Estanislau, deputy secretary of the OAB/CE Human Rights Commission, says she hopes that all deponents are heard and that family members have access to the trial site. “We hope that (…) the case will be followed again by the general population, due to its historical importance. The Curió jury is an emblematic case and may represent a paradigm shift in terms of accountability in cases of violence committed by State agents The quest is for accountability and reparation”, he argues.
In the first jury, which took place in June this year and lasted five days, the first four defendants were sentenced to 275 years and 11 months in prison each. They are: Antônio José de Abreu Vidal Filho, Marcus Vinicius Sousa da Costa, Wellington Veras Chagas and Ideraldo Amâncio.
Today Edna rethinks her opinion about the waiting time for the case to be judged. “I, at least, thought the process was very slow. And I think it’s fine. The conviction could have been earlier, the trial could have been earlier, but maybe it wouldn’t have resolved the issue, because if it had been done during the pandemic (of covid-19), no one could gather”. Edna considers that the group of mothers is experiencing a “unique moment”. “A moment that, for the first time in Ceará, is having justice when the police kill someone, mainly young people in the periphery, who, in addition to killing them, they still say that the boys are criminals, and that is very cruel”, she reports.
UN observer will come to the jury of the Curió Case
The Committee on the Rights of Children of the United Nations (UN) will come to Ceará to accompany the second jury of the Case Curió. The body will be represented by Luis Ernesto Pedernera Reyna, former chairman of the Committee and member of the body.
“Always striving for technical and legal rigidity in complex and emblematic cases, it is essential to have the institutional presence of international organizations that follow the case to closely monitor the process. It further reinforces the importance of this judgment, not only on the local scene, but also on the national and international scene, making the importance of accountability on the part of the State even clearer”, considers Fernanda Estanislau.
The National Human Rights Council and the National Ombudsman of the Ministry of Human Rights (MDH) will be present in the second jury of the Curió Case.
A third jury is scheduled for Sept. 12, with eight more police officers as defendants. Other defendants are awaiting appeals at the federal level.
More about the Curió Case
Understand the episodes of the crime, according to the Public Ministry of the State of Ceará (MPCE) accessing 11docurio.com
Understand how it works and follow the jury in real time through the Ceará Court of Justice (TJCE) hotsite
Access the podcast, the book and arts about Caso Curió.
Source: BdF Ceará
Editing: Camila Garcia
