The Federal Court of Amazonas sentenced this Wednesday (15) the former president of Funai (National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples), Marcelo Augusto Xavier da Silva, to ten years in prison for the crime of slanderous reporting. An appeal can be made against the decision.
Former director of the agency in the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Marcelo Silva was accused by the MPF (Federal Public Ministry) of persecuting the agency’s employees, members of the Waimiri Atroari Association and other entities that work in defense of indigenous people to approve Funai’s part in the environmental licensing process for Linhão do Tucuruí, an energy transmission line between Manaus and Boa Vista.
The decision was handed down by judge Thadeu José Piragibe Afonso, from the 2nd Federal Criminal Court of Amazonas. The judge stated that the former president acted to “intimidate and pressure” civil servants to approve licensing during the Bolsonaro government.
According to the judge, the former president asked the PF (Federal Police) to open investigations against the agency’s employees.
“The accused’s intention to speed up the Linhão licensing process, ignoring administrative formalities, technical notes and the history of the indigenous population directly involved, is clear and outlines the motivation behind the request to initiate the investigation: to retaliate and pressure his subordinates to move forward with the licensing of the work”, he stated.
The magistrate also added that the accused knew that the accusations were baseless.
“The victims, in addition to being innocent, did not present any criminal motivation or conduct. Their inclusion in the procedures was technically unfounded, subjectively intentional and politically instrumentalized, only because they went against the political interests to which the former president of Funai was devoted”, he added.
In a note sent to Agência Brasil, lawyer Marcos Soares Júnior said that he received the conviction with “perplexity and indignation” and reiterated that the acts carried out by Marcelo Augusto Xavier were based on fulfilling the legal exercise of his role.
The defense added that it will appeal the decision.
“It can be said with conviction that there is no evidence in the case file regarding the allegation of instrumentalization by the Federal Police and Public Prosecutor’s Office for the purpose of pressuring or persecuting civil servants, indigenous leaders and the like”, stated the defense.
