Senator Damares Alves (Republicans) and the Union must compensate the population of Marajó (PA) with R$5 million for false and sensational information involving sexual abuse and torture of children in the archipelago. The request is from the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), which filed a Public Civil Action this Monday (11/09) over the speeches of the former Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights of the Bolsonaro government, during the 2022 elections.
The claim for compensation is for collective social and moral damages, and the resources must be used to carry out social projects aimed at the archipelago region. Each defendant must pay half the amount.
According to the action, on October 8, Damares Alves, recently elected senator of the Republic, stated in an evangelical service held in Goiânia (GO) that children from Marajó suffered violent sexual practices and torture. “The barbaric crimes were narrated in the context of an electoral campaign for the then head of the federal Executive Branch, Jair Bolsonaro, a candidate for re-election at that time and who, according to her, was being the victim of a ‘spiritual war’”, points out an excerpt from the action.
In the request for conviction, the MPF orders Damares Alves and União to publish through official government vehicles and other unofficial media a retraction of the untruths uttered on 10/8/2022.
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In the action, the MPF also points out the passive legitimacy of the Union for the damages caused by the defendant Damares Alves, due to her being Minister of State during the episode. Therefore, the MPF requests that the Union prepare, publish and immediately execute an action plan, with a minimum schedule of four years, to achieve the goals intended in the Marajó Citizenship Program, established by Ordinance 292 of May 17, 2023.
According to the public prosecutors who signed the action, the violations in the Marajó archipelago do not justify “the sensationalist use of the social vulnerability of that population, associated with the dissemination of false facts, as a political and electoral platform for the benefit of the then president of the Republic and from the minister herself.”
Also according to the action, in addition to not contributing anything, the repeated discriminatory misinformation disseminated by a high-ranking authority in the Federal Public Administration reinforces stereotypes and “confuses society and undermines the execution of serious public policies committed to improving the social conditions of the population of Marajó. They therefore cause evident social and extra-patrimonial damage to this community”, points out another excerpt from the ACP.
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No proof
As stated in the ACP, the information sent by the then Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights was not proven. The state of Pará reported that there were no records of alleged acts of international trafficking of children and adolescents. The Federal Police also reported that there are no investigations that coincide with the facts narrated by the former minister, in addition to the Federal Public Ministry itself, which has not received any complaints on the subject in the last 30 years.
Public Civil Action
The process is in the initial processing phase and the deadlines will still be open for both the Union and Senator Damares to defend themselves and present any evidence.
In a statement, the senator’s press office reported that “as this is a matter involving children, Senator Damares Alves will only comment on the case in the case. The senator hopes that the MPF will be relentless in hunting down sexual abusers and exploiters of children and adolescents and in the same sense act, in an increasingly incisive way, in the search for missing children in Brazil.”
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Source: BdF Distrito Federal
Editing: Márcia Silva