The First Panel of the (Federal Supreme Court) sentenced Santa Catarina businessman Alcides Hahn to 14 years in prison, accused of financing a bus with R$500 that took a protester who participated in the protests to Brasília.
The decision was taken on March 2 in a trial in the virtual plenary of the collegiate. In this modality, there is no discussion and ministers just cast their votes in the system.
The case rapporteur, , voted for conviction. It was followed in its entirety by e and with reservations by .
The businessman’s defense appealed the decision. The motions for clarification presented would be analyzed in a virtual session from March 20 to 27, but were removed from the First Panel’s agenda. A new date for the analysis has not yet been set.
In addition to Hahn, Rene Afonso Mahnke and Vilamir Valmor Romanoski were also convicted of the crimes of violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, coup d’état, qualified damage, deterioration of listed property and armed criminal association.
They will have to contribute, together with the others convicted of January 8th, with the payment of compensation for collective moral damages of R$30 million.
The three were denounced by the (Attorney General’s Office) as financing the acts that resulted in the depredation of Praça dos Três Poderes.
According to the agency, they paid for a bus that left Blumenau (SC) on January 5, 2023 with 41 people, “including a direct participant in the undemocratic acts.”
Alcides Hahn’s defense stated that the PGR’s accusation against him is based only on a receipt from Pix with the amount transferred to the company and claimed that there is no proof that the R$500 was to finance the bus or that the businessman was aware of the illicit purpose of the acts.
“It is highlighted that the only witness stated that he had assumed the destination of the amount, with no confirmation of the purpose of the transfer, nor any evidence regarding associative ties, participation in an organization or adherence to undemocratic acts”, he says.
In relation to Vilamir Romanoski, the PGR stated that he had transferred more than R$10,000 to hire the bus and organized the receipt of money via Pix from other people who also contributed to the trip.
In addition to the amounts, messages on his cell phone would show that he had coordinated the coup protesters, organizing, for example, transportation spaces, and also had asked for financial help for the return of protesters whose vehicles were seized.
Rene Mahnke would have transferred R$1,000 to the company responsible for the bus. His defense said that the amount would correspond to the ticket payment and stated that he ended up giving up on the trip, with no evidence that he maintained contact with organizers, participated in camps or published anti-democratic content.
In his vote, Moraes stated that the evidence shows that the three “subjectively joined the criminal enterprise, contributing in an effective and relevant way to the execution of the crimes” and justified the length of the sentence for the three by stating that there is “marked guilt” of the defendants.
“The conduct of participating in the operation of a criminal concert aimed at annihilating the essential pillars of the democratic rule of law, through violence and extremely serious damage to public property, is extremely serious,” he wrote.
Dino and Cármen Lúcia did not detail their votes. Zanin agreed with Moraes that there is “incontrovertible materiality and authorship” of the crimes by the defendants, but said that there are “slight divergences” in relation to dosimetry. However, the minister did not present another penalty proposal.
