The Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes authorized this Tuesday (24), that Colonel Marcelo Costa Câmara, former aide-de-camp to former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), returns to work in the Armed Forces. Sentenced to 21 years in prison for attempted coup d’état, Câmara will be able to carry out internal administrative activities in the Army Police Battalion, in Brasília.
At the beginning of February, Moraes had denied a job model to the retired colonel. The Army had proposed that the defendant carry out work of an intellectual nature, analyzing military works and producing technical reports for the Planalto Military Command.
Although he recognized that work is a prisoner’s right and can lead to remission of his sentence, the minister considered that the suggested activities were “legally impossible, unreasonable and inappropriate” given the nature of the crimes for which the colonel was convicted.
This Monday (23), the Army presented a document to the STF with a new work alternative for the colonel, accepted by the minister.
“A possibility of administrative work is being proposed, aimed exclusively at the internal routines of the Custody Unit, without any direct relationship with its final activity, nor with the military profession or with the improvement of the Armed Forces, which will be evaluated and validated by a supervisor”, says the letter.
According to the proposal, the work consists of “checking documents relating to the acquisition of consumables and administrative contracts signed by the prison unit”.
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The working day will be six hours a day, reaching a maximum of eight hours. The initial regime will be four days of work per week, which can be extended for up to six days per week.
In the decision, Moraes also reiterated the authorization given on January 20th, for the colonel to enroll in a technical course in the distance learning modality (EAD), at the Faculty of Professional and Higher Education of Cuiabá (Faspec).
Furthermore, Câmara will be able to participate in the literary reading program, which could result in a reduced sentence, as long as the internal rules of the Army Police Battalion, where he is held, are followed.
Câmara was sentenced by the First Panel of the STF to 21 years in an initial closed regime and a fine of 120 minimum wages. The colonel was accused of coordinating monitoring actions and execution plans for authorities, together with General Mário Fernandes, in what became known as the Punhal Verde and Amarelo Plan, and of liaising with popular leaders linked to the coup acts of January 8, 2023.
He was arrested preventively in June last year. At the time, Moraes stated that the colonel, through his lawyers, tried to obtain confidential information about Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid’s plea bargain, which, according to the minister, could constitute the crime of obstructing an investigation. He was taken to the Army Police Battalion in the federal capital.
In December, Câmara and four other defendants were convicted by the First Panel of the STF during the trial of the so-called “management core” of the coup plan to keep former president Jair Bolsonaro in power after his defeat in the 2022 elections.
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Moraes highlighted that the granting of benefits is conditional on compliance with the internal rules of the military unit responsible for the custody of the defendant and subsequent inspection of the activities carried out.
