SOURCE: Jornal O Liberal, Caderno Atualidades
February 21, 2002

Judge Eva do Amaral Coelho, of the 1st Criminal Court in the jurisdiction of Belim, yesterday signed an order setting the trial date of 149 military policemen accused of involvement in the massacre of 19 landless workers in the city of Eldorado, Carajas in the state of Para on April 17, 1996.

The news of the April 8, 2002 date for the trial did not meet with the enthusiasm of the local leadership of the Movement of Landless Workers (MST), which hopes to move the case to federal court. The MST, which represents the workers' rights, is not confident of receiving a fair trial in the discredited Para courts.

Raimundo Nonato de Souza, one of the state coordinators of the MST, said that the movement has many "suspicions" about how much the judiciary of Para is indebted to landowners in the state where such disputes have generally been dealt with as actions in defense of the rights of landowners rather than as violations of human rights. Next weekend, the national leadership of the MST will discuss with other popular movements the legal steps necessary to prevent the case from being judged in Para.

The first judgment in the case came down in 1999 and was annulled. If the new trial follows the example of the previous one, the eventual judgment will elapse the sixth anniversary of massacre. The initial trial took place in three sessions. The decision to divide the case into three segments was made in consideration of the defense, whose ability to represent such a high number of defendants would be unfairly compromised by a single session. There has been no forecast of how many days will actually be necessary for each session in the new trial. In the first session of the trial, the commanders of the operation -- to vacate the occupation by landless workers of the property known as the "S Curve" -- will be judged: Colonel Mario Colares Pantoja, chief commander of the operation; Major Jose Maria Pereira de Oliveira, troop commander of Parauapebas, and Captain Raymond Jose Almendra Lameira, troop commander of Maraba. The colonel will be defended by attorney Amirico Leal, the major by attorney Jbnio Siqueira and the captain by attorney Roberto Lauria.

In the second session, scheduled to begin April 15, 17 members of the military police -- four lieutenants, 12 sergeants and a corporal -- will be judged. They will be defended by attorney Luiz Abdoral Lopes. In the third session, slated to start on April 22, 129 military policemen -- six sergeants, 15 corporals and 108 soldiers -- will appear before the bench. They will be defended by attorneys Elomsa Helena Segtowick Sovano, Pablo Ronaldo Albuquerque and Ocione Ferreira.

The number of accused military policemen is less than in 1996. Five have been excluded from the process because they have since died; charges against another soldier, Idson Soares, have been suspended due to alleged mental incapacity. That diagnosis still depends on the findings of the Renato Chaves Center for Forensic Science. According to attorney Elomsa Elena, there were reports that another soldier had died, and so would be excluded from the action, but the defense has not yet had access to the death certificate.

When setting the trial date, Judge Coelho considered that "by the appeal that resulted in an annulment [of the decision] of the first jury [in the case], the criminal legal process duly remedied itself and is [now] prepared to [reach] a judgment. The appeal that resulted in an annulment of the first jury decision does not cancel the legal process or suspend the fact [that a crime has occurred].

The judge also explained that the parties in the penal action had already used up all their allotted time to investigate the case, including the expert [investigation] required by the State Public Ministry in the dispute over film of the episode that was already done before the conclusions [drawn from it] were contested.

Also scheduled for trial in April are landless workers Maurmlio Da Silva Soares, Jzlio Cesar Barbosa and Crenon Ferraz Maia, accused of attacking policemen during the attempt to remove protesters occupying the land at the "S Curve." The defendants are appealing to Brasilia and, therefore, they are still part of the process, at least for the time being.

The presiding judge, Eva do Amaral Coelho, will be assisted by Judge Roberto Moura in deciding post-administrative procedures that involve the grand jury.

The Prosecution -- Criminal prosecutor Marco Aurilio Nascimento, who prosecuted the previous case, will work this time in partnership with prosecutor Jose Rui Barbosa. Again, the representatives of the public prosecution service will ask for the conviction of the accused, especially of the commanders who are considered the ones mainly responsible for the deaths. The accused are charged with the crime of "qualified homicide" (in which the victims could not defend themselves, which if resulting in conviction, carries a sentence of 12-30 years imprisonment. They still could also be convicted of "simple homicide," which carries a sentence of six-20 years imprisonment. )

To avoid the uproar that accompanied the previous judgment -- when the juror Smlvio Queiroz Mendonga announced the verdict and was accused of acting as an intermediary to corrupt the members of the jury -- prosecutor Marco Aurilio Nascimento said that the Justice Department and the Public Ministry would need to investigate the suitability of the jurors [in the upcoming trial.] Those who have been involved in legal proceedings will be excluded. Moreover, the prosecution and the defense each have the right to reject up to three jurors. Another important detail that gives the prosecutors confidence is the exclusion of the question of "insufficient proof," which, in the previous judgment, allowed the absolution of the commanders by the jury of the people.

The coroner's findings continue to be one of the principal arguments of the prosecution. Another "weapon" of the prosecution will be the new expert findings made by the Center for Forensic Sciences after an examination of pictures from the massacre. A digitalization of the pictures presents more details. The detailed analysis of the film concluded that the landless workers had only started to attack the policemen as a diversion to rescue the body of a landless worker, Ambncio Rodrigues, that already appeared to be in the possession of the policemen. Another strong argument [for the prosecution] is the deposition given by the Pantoja colonel that he did not lose the control of the operation.

The Defense -- The defense of the corporals and soldiers, according to attorney Elomsa Elena Segtowick Sovano, will employ the theories of: unknown authorship [of the crimes], self defense, and [that the military acted in] strict fulfilment of [their] legal duty. "Those responsible had been the commanders, mainly the governors (Governor Almir Gabriel and Pablo Sette Cbmara, Secretary of Public Security), they had ordered the removal [of the MST protestors]. The corporals and soldiers were fulfilling orders. This excludes their culpability," justified.

Translated by FMST volunteer Richard Paige.