The court maintained the arrest of former deputy Rodrigo Bacellar (União Brasil) after a custody hearing held at 11:30 am this Saturday. Bacellar, who had his mandate revoked by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) last Thursday and was already removed by a previous decision by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), was arrested on Friday, in Teresópolis, by order of minister Alexandre de Moraes. He was taken to the Pedrolino Werling de Oliveira Prison, in the Gericinó Complex, in Bangu.
The arrest order was carried out by the Federal Police (PF) as part of Operation Unha e Carne III, which names the former president of Alerj as responsible for data leaks from an operation against Comando Vermelho. The former deputy had already been arrested in December in a previous phase of the investigations.
In a statement, lawyers Daniel Bialski and Roberto Podval said they did not know the reasons for the arrest:
“But it still classifies it as undue and unnecessary, since our client had been faithfully and completely complying with all the precautionary measures imposed. Therefore, he will contest and appeal to have it reviewed and revoked as soon as possible”, write the defenders.
Investigation
On January 28, the Federal Police sent to Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF, and to the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, the final report of the investigations into alleged crimes committed by the removed president of the Legislative Assembly of Rio, Rodrigo Bacellar, the TRF-2 judge Macário Judice and the former state deputy Thiego Santos, TH Jóias, among other targets of investigation.
Delegate Guilherme Catramby, who signed the document, writes: “It was found that Rodrigo Bacellar’s greatest asset is his ability to articulate spuriously across all the powers in Rio de Janeiro, to the point of being able to receive favors and considerations that place beggars in a position of gratitude and vulnerability.”
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Along with Bacellar and Thiego, Jéssica de Oliveira Santos and Thárcio Nascimento Salgado, respectively wife and former advisor to TH Jóias, were formally indicted, as well as Flávia Ferraço Lopes Judice, Macário’s wife. According to the report, the magistrate was not indicted because he holds the position of federal judge. In your case, as the law determines, the files were sent to the PGR.
Unanimously elected to the presidency of Alerj, and until then considered as a candidate for governor, state deputy Rodrigo Bacellar was arrested on December 3, 2025 and removed from office, as determined by the Federal Supreme Court.
He was accused, as was judge Macário Judice, of leaking information regarding the operation that, in September of the same year, also led to TH Jóias, appointed as a member of Comando Vermelho, being arrested.
Operation Nail and Flesh, which took Bacellar to jail, is considered a continuation of Operation Zargun, which arrested TH. The Federal Police report attributes to Bacellar the “leadership of the political nucleus of the criminal organization under analysis” — the CV, in this case.
On December 8, Alerj approved the revocation of its president’s arrest: minister Alexandre de Moraes granted provisional freedom, but ordered precautionary measures such as removal from office (but not from mandate) and the use of an electronic ankle bracelet.
The document sent by the PF points out a relationship between the vote — 42 deputies in favor, 21 against and two abstentions — and the distribution of positions in the public sector. Analysis of a computer seized in the office of Bacellar’s chief of staff, Rui Carvalho Bulhões Junior, revealed spreadsheets that, according to the report, suggest this.
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Requests for charges
The spreadsheet entitled “REQUESTS ON 12-04-23” was sent to the Federal Supreme Court (STF). According to the PF, the document works as a detailed inventory of what each deputy “owns” — positions and command spaces already assigned — and the new demands that each parliamentarian would make within the administrative structure of the state government.
The requests are organized by names and specific demands for bodies, positions and powers of influence in strategic sectors. The report also highlights that 87.88% of parliamentarians whose names appear on the spreadsheet voted in favor of Bacellar’s release in December.
The document also details specific requests from parliamentarians such as Arthur Monteiro (União Brasil), who would have requested control of Poupa Tempo in Duque de Caxias, in addition to posts at Detran and Faetec. Carlinhos BNH (PP), according to the record kept on the computer, had requested command of Detran units in Queimados and positions at Fundação Leão XIII in several municipalities.
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Guilherme Delaroli (PL), interim president of the House, appears to be responsible for a list of 15 positions required at Alerj, in addition to commanding Detran and Faetec in Itaboraí and Rio Bonito. Prominent parliamentarian in the House, president of the Commission and Justice, Rodrigo Amorim (União Brasil) is appointed as the person responsible for requesting vacancies in the capital’s Detran, in the Segurança Presente and Lei Seca programs, in addition to “positions to compensate Ceperj”.
The Ceperj Foundation, as recalled in the PF report, is the center of an investigation into the diversion of public funds to pay campaigners in the 2022 elections, which may have exceeded R$220 million paid in cash. Currently, the case “is pending judgment at the Superior Electoral Court”, following a request for review, and “could culminate in the impeachment and ineligibility of Cláudio Castro, Rodrigo Bacellar and other relevant actors on the political scene in Rio de Janeiro”.
Future administration
In the same Unha e Carne operation, agents seized a notebook from Bacellar with notes that the PF classifies as an “organizational chart of his future administration”, with names, positions and sectors that the deputy planned to occupy if he took over the State Government.
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The list ranges from suggestions, such as “a famous name” in the Sports Secretariat, to well-known politicians: deputy Douglas Ruas would be nominated for the Works portfolio. Current president of Flamengo, Luiz Eduardo Baptista, known as Bap, is considered for the position of vice. There is no indication that those mentioned were contacted or were aware of their inclusion on the list.
The Federal Police emphasizes that the simple projection of secretariat or government scenarios, in isolation, does not constitute a crime, although the seizure and analysis of the material is part of a broader context of investigation.
The report merges the worlds of politics and crime. In a sensitive case on the second list, the federal police claim that former deputy TH Jóias confirmed to Gabriel Dias de Oliveira, the Lixão Indian, accused of being one of the leaders of Comando Vermelho, the warning about his imminent arrest received by the removed president of Alerj Rodrigo Bacellar.
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Bacellar’s lawyers have stated that “there is no evidential element to impute to him any participation in illegality and/or leakage”. To RJTV, TH’s lawyer denied his client’s participation in criminal activities and said that he did not have access to leaked information.
The acting president of Alerj, Guilherme Delaroli, said that he considers the inclusion of his name in a spreadsheet made by third parties to be illegitimate, and that he acts within the law, respecting the institutions.
Representative Rodrigo Amorim, in turn, stated that it is his institutional duty to maintain dialogue and suggest public policies, and that any allegation beyond that means an attempt to criminalize the policy.
