MP warned of risk of releasing prisoner who shot police officer in the head during 'outing'

The Public Ministry of Minas Gerais (MP-MG) had already warned the Judiciary about the risk of keeping the man who shot Military Police Sergeant Roger Dias da Cunha on the streets.

The crime took place during an approach in Belo Horizonte last Friday, 5th, and the 29-year-old sergeant's health condition is considered irreversible by the medical team. The diagnosis is brain death. He was shot at close range in the head and leg.

The criminal, Welbert de Souza Fagundes, sentenced to 13 years and three months in prison for robbery, had been on parole since March 2023. In at least three outings, he allegedly committed new crimes, which led the MP to ask him to return to the closed regime to finish serving the sentence.

Prosecutors argued that the principle of doubt in favor of the defendant could not be used “right and left” and that the safety of the population could be put at risk.

“Unless they simply wanted to empty prisons without caring about the terrible consequences of a deficient criminal execution that was frowned upon by society,” wrote prosecutors Camila Melo Campos Moreira and Leonardo Morroni Araújo de Mello in August 2023.

Despite the warning, the Justice of Minas authorized the semi-open regime, that is, he received the green light to leave the prison every day to work. The decision was made in November last year. On that occasion, the first instance judge also authorized temporary departures, such as the one in Natal. The man, however, did not return to prison on the established date – December 23 – and was considered a fugitive.

In a statement, the Association of Magistrates of Minas Gerais (Amagis) stated that all judicial decisions were “technical” and that temporary departures are authorized by law. He also argued that the magistrate responsible for executing the sentence seeks the “reintegration” of prisoners. “There was no serious misconduct noted in his prison certificate,” says the statement.

WITH THE WORD, AMAGIS

The Association of Magistrates of Minas Gerais (Amagis) expresses its solidarity with all Military Police Officers and with the family of Sergeant Dias in the face of the extraordinary aggression he suffered from a prisoner on temporary release while carrying out his duties.

In view of comments dissociated from reality, the following clarifies: a) the accused was in the semi-open regime; b) the accused had the right to go to work every day since November 2023; c) there was no serious misconduct noted in his prison certificate, and the reported theft accusation resulted in the loss of his conditional release in the middle of last year, but the Public Prosecutor's Office did not initiate criminal proceedings resulting in the relaxation of the provisional prison sentence. All the decisions mentioned were made in a technical manner, in accordance with the broad understanding of the TJMG and the STJ.

It also clarifies that the Law authorizes temporary releases, up to five times a year, for up to seven days each, and the prisoner's calendar was presented by the prison management.

The Criminal Execution Judge does not judge again what led to the conviction of those sentenced, he monitors compliance with the reprimand seeking the reinsertion of the individual according to the sentences already established.

It is regrettable to link the tragedy experienced by the courageous Sergeant Dias to the Court that granted the benefit provided for in the Law. After all, what happened reflects the society we currently live in, increasingly violent, armed and intolerant, filled with inexplicable attacks behind social media, not facing the real reasons for urban violence, the result of social inequality, lack of legal work opportunities for those released from the prison system, in addition to the lack of future prospects for countless people.