The case by the Federal Police was based on suspicion of sexual harassment against (Igualdade Racial) and professor Isabel Rodrigues.
The police report was sent to the (Federal Supreme Court) last Monday (10).
In the case of the other victims, according to information from people who had access to the document, the PF considered that there was a statute of limitations — when the State can no longer punish someone for committing a crime or execute a sentence for the time that has passed since the fact.
Added together, the penalties can result in 10 years in prison.
The case is being processed under secrecy in court and is being reported by the minister. At the beginning of the year, during the investigations, Silvio Almeida testified for more than two hours to the Federal Police.
The allegations against the minister were forwarded to the Me Too Organization and revealed by the Metrópoles portal in September last year. Among the accusations would be that of Anielle.
The indictment information was initially reported by TV Globo and confirmed by Sheet.
The former minister. On the day the complaint emerged, he published a note in response to the allegations.
“I absolutely vehemently repudiate the lies that are being made against me. I repudiate such accusations with the strength of the love and respect I have for my wife and my beloved 1-year-old daughter, in the midst of the fight I wage, daily, in favor of human rights and citizenship in this country”, he stated at the time.
When contacted, Almeida’s defense still stated that they were not aware of the content of the PF report, in addition to reaffirming the former minister’s innocence.
The lawyers emphasized that the process is confidential and that the indictment is included in this, which must be preserved.
The indictment is an act of the police investigation by which the authority conducting the investigation reports having found evidence that the person being investigated committed a crime.
In general, this formal procedure occurs at the end of the police phase of a case and, subsequently, the investigation is sent to the Public Ministry — in this case, to the Attorney General’s Office.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office may file a complaint against the suspect or ask for the case to be closed. It is also possible that prosecutors or prosecutors may ask the police for additional investigations.
An investigated person can only be considered a defendant after the Court accepts the formal accusation offered by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Anielle said that Almeida’s “inappropriate approaches” escalated to physical harassment.
The minister told Veja magazine that there were “inconvenient attitudes” on Almeida’s part, such as inappropriate touches and impertinent invitations, but that she did not report the episodes for “fear of discredit and judgment”, in addition to the feeling that the victim was to blame, not the aggressor.
In the case of the teacher, she published a video in September last year accusing the former minister of having touched her without consent during a lunch in the presence of other people, in 2019, before he became the government’s Minister of Human Rights ().
“I sat next to Silvio. He was on the right side and I was on the left. I was wearing a skirt. He lifted my skirt and put his hand on my private parts willingly”, he said.
Silvio Almeida even said, in , that Anielle had “lost herself in her character” and fallen into a political trap.
At the time, the former minister also stated that he would resume his public activities. “I’m alive, I’m still outraged and I don’t want compassion or ‘second chances’. I want justice.”
The case took President Lula to Silvio Almeida the day after the allegations were revealed. Before the decision, the PT member met separately with Almeida and, after publishing the resignation, with Anielle Franco. Since then, the Human Rights department has been headed by Macaé Evaristo.
In the official resignation statement, the government stated that the president considered it “unsustainable” for the minister to remain in office considering the nature of the sexual harassment accusations.
