Leniel Borel, should receive compensation of R$400,000 of Jairo Souza Santos Júnior, the Jairinhoby moral damages. The payment is part of Jairo’s sentencehanded down by the II Jury Court of Rio de Janeiro in the early hours of this Thursday (4), for the death of the four-year-old boy.
Along with compensation, the judge Elizabeth Machado Louro established a sentence of 43 years, 9 months and 20 days in prison for Jairinho criminal hairs qualified homicide, torture and coercion during the process. The decision can be appealed.
While reading the decision, the judge stated that the former councilor acted with “disproportionate violence” and demonstrated “rare and disproportionate cowardice” against a child of just four years old. In the sentence, he also described Jairinho as a person able to hide your true personality behind an image of cordiality.
Monique Medeiros, mother of Henry Borel, received a judicial pardon, legal institute that removes the application of the penalty even after recognition of the crime. In the woman’s case, the Sentencing Council recognized Monique’s responsibility for torture by omission and downgraded the charge from intentional homicide to manslaughter.
After the decision, Monique left Talavera Bruce Penitentiary on Thursday afternoon (4).in the Gericinó Complex, in Bangu, in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro.
What Henry’s father says
In an interview with CNN Behind the Scenes this Thursday (4), Leniel Borel, father of Henry Borel, stated that the final sentence involving Monique Medeiros in the trial for the boy’s death represented a
In the decision, handed down in the early hours of this Thursday, Monique, the child’s mother, received a judicial pardon, a legal institute that rules out the application of the penalty even after recognition of the crime.
“Yesterday it became very clear, not only to me, but to the whole of Brazil, of this ‘biased partiality’. We will appeal […] Monique, at the very least, was silent.[…] They forget that Monique is the mother. The guarantor. She is, at the very least, responsible for her son’s life.. And she didn’t protect him”, said Leniel.
During the interview, Henry’s father even came to question the judicial pardon granted to Monique. “She was convicted of manslaughter, and have a judicial pardon for an intentional crime against life? Can an intentional crime against life have a judicial pardon?”, he asked.
Leniel reported that, over the five years of the process, he observed several decisions made by the judge which, in his assessment, benefited Monique unjustifiablyincluding releasing the defendant in situations that, according to him, contravened Supreme Court decisions Tribunal Federal.
What the defenses say
In a statement, released this Thursday, Monique’s defense stated that she received the decision “with respect”. Read in full:
“The lawyers Florence Rosa and Hugo dos Santos Novais, who work in the defense of Monique Medeiros da Costa e Silva, receive with respect the decision made by the Sentencing Council, highlighting that the Jury Court constitutes one of the most important constitutional guarantees of the Democratic State of Law, with the sovereignty of verdicts being a principle expressly guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of 1988.
They also highlight that the trial carried out was guided by the analysis of the evidence produced in the procedural instruction, within the rules that govern the Popular Jury procedure. Throughout the entire process, Monique’s defense maintained that she did not commit any aggression against her son and that her biggest mistake was not being able to realize, in time, the violence that she and her son were suffering. Henry’s death represents an irreparable tragedy for everyone involved in this case.
The process also invites society to reflect on the need to evolve the understanding of phenomena related to domestic, psychological and gender-based violence, abusive relationships and the excessive exposure of women as victims, as the victim is not always able to immediately identify the signs of the violence to which they are subjected, especially when inserted into complex cycles of emotional manipulation and affective dependence. Finally, they reiterate their absolute respect for the memory of Henry Borel Medeiros, the families involved, democratic institutions and the Jury Court, recognizing the constitutional importance of the sovereignty of verdicts as an expression of popular participation in the administration of Justice.”
