The arrest of a lawyer on the premises of the Navy’s 1st Naval District did not expose legal criticism to a rule that prohibits photographs and video recordings of people and equipment in military environments without authorization.
Adriano Carvalho da Rocha, lawyer and retired Navy corporal, works in the area of military law and was at the unit on Monday (13) to file a document for a client when he had a disagreement with military personnel there.
He had a request for an audience with the commander general denied and was no longer attended to when office hours ended. The lawyer then began filming his own face live on his Instagram profile. The recordings were made indoors and outdoors.
Article 147 provides for a sentence of up to four years in prison for anyone who draws, draws plans, photographs or films equipment, places and people in an internal military environment.
Rocha was arrested on charges of disobeying a legal military order. He underwent a custody hearing on Tuesday (14) and was granted provisional freedom by the Military Court.
The one from Rio de Janeiro joined the case after the arrest, through the Prerogatives commission. After the release, the order released a statement in which the president of the commission, lawyer James Walker, stated that the episode referred to the military dictatorship and involved “acts of torture, abuse of authority, extreme illegality”.
“A lawyer was detained by a military member in the exercise of his profession. As a result, the Prerogatives Commission followed up the case and filed a habeas corpus. We did not rest for a minute until our colleague was released. Our priority was to restore his dignity”, he stated, in the note, the president of OAB-RJ Ana Tereza Basilio.
Rocha is part of a group of lawyers called the Military Law Confraternity, which works on cases especially in Rio de Janeiro. Members of the group question the rule of preventing cell phones from entering, arguing that the device is a work instrument and can be used to film possible abuses.
Bianca Figueira, Rocha’s lawyer and also a member of the group, states that professionals have suffered “routine and repeated violations” within the , especially in the Navy, with “arbitrary acts”.
“They force us to hand over this equipment and, when we leave, they give it back to us. They think we can film their areas and compromise security, but in reality they want to restrict us from filming acts of abuse of authority”, says the lawyer.
She compares cell phones to “those that film everything and protect all parties involved.”
Members of the group claim that they will propose a criminal action in , mentioning by name the soldiers involved, and a civil action against the Federal Union.
Lawyer Bianca Figueira claims that Rocha was subjected to “torture” when he remained incommunicado for two hours in an empty room in the Naval District, after having his cell phone seized. It also states that he was unable to use the bathroom. At the hearing, the lawyer said he had been “humiliated”, but did not mention torture.
When contacted, from Brazil, she denied irregularities in the prison and said that “the procedures carried out are fully supported as recommended by law, without the occurrence of any type of violation or embarrassment”.
He also stated that adequate food and access to a bathroom were provided and that “the lawyer’s prerogatives and freedom to come and go were respected, within the space reserved for activities of a legal nature.”
“The Brazilian Navy reinforces its firm repudiation of any acts that violate Brazilian legislation”, the note also says.
The Military Public Prosecutor’s Office will decide whether to file charges in relation to the alleged crimes.
Navy soldiers in Rio de Janeiro state, with reservations, that Rocha has caused discomfort and embarrassment with videos published on his Instagram profile, which has just over 8,000 followers.
In at least two videos, the lawyer filmed the faces of Navy doctors, mentioning their names. In one of them, he questions a professional who had given him a wrong diagnosis 20 years earlier.
Behind the scenes, military personnel compare Rocha to , who became known for recording videos arguing with agents during raids and invading public health units to catch doctors sleeping.
