05/31/2024 – 20:05
Professors at the University of São Paulo (USP) are awaiting an investigation into the brutal action suffered by students at Largo de São Francisco, on May 25th, by military police officers during a protest against governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans). O Estadão found that it was the first time that PMs entered the historic building, in the Sé region, downtown São Paulo, for an action of this type.
The investigation of the facts takes place by the 1st Police District (DP) of the Cathedral. “The information regarding the lack of investigation by the Civil Police is unfounded. In parallel with the work of the judicial police, the images are being analyzed by the Military Police. The Civil Police is a legalistic institution and operates in strict compliance with current legislation,” the São Paulo Public Security Secretariat (SSP) said in a statement.
According to a statement from USP, at least one student was attacked after having his head grabbed by police officers. On the occasion, representatives of the Three Powers participated in the inauguration of the new Attorney General of the Public Ministry of São Paulo, Paulo Sérgio de Oliveira e Costa. The students spoke out on various issues, such as free student passes, expansion of body cameras for police officers and against approval of the project that creates civic-military schools in São Paulo.
In a video published by the XI de Agosto Academic Center, police officers appear tearing down a banner from the protesters, in what would be the beginning of the confusion. Then, a police officer starts to pull out a gun while a student has his head grabbed by another officer. The aggression only stops when a lawyer intervenes. At that moment, a military police officer laughs.
According to Celso Fernandes Campilongo, director of the Faculty of Law, and Ana Elisa Liberatore Bechara, deputy director, said that teachers had to place themselves between PMs and students.
“Before the event even started, we were informed about acts of police violence against students inside the college. We immediately went to the scene of the incident and spoke to the students. Furthermore, we spoke to the person responsible for the security services and said that the violence was unacceptable and that, within the college, the student protest could not be subject to either censorship or repression. During the entire ceremony and student protest, we remained positioned between the students and the police, close to the place previously reserved by the MP-SP. The objective was to eliminate the risks of abuse and tension,” they said in a statement.
They go on to say that, in fact, at least one student was attacked. “Indeed, there are images, widely disseminated on social media, in which at least one student from the Faculty of Law is attacked by the Military Police, inside the School”, they mentioned.
Journalist, professor at the School of Communication and Arts (ECA) at USP and columnist for EstadãoEugênio Bucci recalled on Thursday, 30, that not even in 1984, when Brazil was under dictatorial control of the military, there was an invasion of Largo São Francisco.
Bucci presided over the XI de Agosto Academic Center when Diretas Já suffered defeat in the Chamber of Deputies, in 1984. The students, Bucci was one of them, decided to hold a demonstration the day after the vote. Military police then surrounded the college and attacked the university students.
The following day, the then Secretary of Public Security in São Paulo, Michel Temer, a former student at the college, went to the Largo São Francisco building to apologize for what had happened. “The governor was Franco Montoro. I had no party identity with any of them, but I recognized the value of the gesture contained in that visit. It was another message: in times of dictatorship, the São Paulo government sought to establish its commitment to democracy”, said Bucci, in an excerpt from his column. “In times of democracy, the São Paulo government courts authoritarianism.”
A teacher reminded the Estadão from two previous episodes that indicate how the situation got out of control in the last week, differing from normal events at college. In one of them, when Lula participated in the first event after leaving prison, there was an agreement with the Public Security Secretariat that there would be police officers there, but in plain clothes, just to guarantee the safety of those present. In another situation, when there was a request for a graduation of cadets from the Academia do Barro Branco in São Francisco, the space was provided only on the condition that no officer entered the place armed. “A disaster,” he said of the current situation.
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