The Federal Court of Amazonas informed this Monday (31) that it decreed the conversion of the temporary detention into preventive detention of the five indigenous peoples arrested on suspicion of involvement in the deaths of three men inside the Indigenous Territory of Tenharim-Marmelos, in the municipality of Humaitá, south of Brazil. from Amazon. The temporary prison, which had been extended, expired this Sunday (30).
The decision of Judge Márcio André Lopes Cavalcante, who was responsible for the 2nd Federal Court (Criminal), was taken last Friday (28). He attended the opinion of the Federal Public Ministry, which manifested for the maintenance of prisons with preventive, as advanced by the agency Real Amazon . The opinion was issued by prosecutor Juliana Câmara. Although the decision was taken by Judge Márcio André, the process will continue under the responsibility of Judge Umberto Paulini.
Indigenous people Domiceno Tenharim, Gilson Tenharim, Gilvan Tenharim, Valdinar Tenharim and Simeão Tenharim have been imprisoned at the Vale do Guaporé Resocialization Center, in rural Porto Velho, since January 30.
They are accused of murder, kidnapping and hiding the corpse of Stef Pinheiro, Luciano Freire and Aldeney Salvador. The three men disappeared on December 16 of last year on the Transamazônica. The Indians deny participation in the crimes.
On February 3, the Federal Police found the bodies of the three men in a grave with the help of sniffer dogs and men from the Amazon Army and Military Police. The bodies had gunshot marks. The grave was dug in the area of the Taboca village, which is 137 kilometers from Humaitá (591 km from Manaus).
At the end of the investigations, the PF asked for the preventive arrests of the five Indians, but the Federal Court denied and extended the temporary arrests until the 28th. The Federal Courts and the MPF did not explain the reasons for the decision for preventive arrests.
After taking up the defense of the five indigenous people in March, the Public Defender’s Office of the Union of Amazonas filed a request for habeas corpus with the TRF1 (Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region), in Brasília. The request was denied by the judge Hilton Queiroz. The application continues to be processed until it is judged on the merits.
Preventive detention is a precautionary measure taken for different reasons – when the suspect can escape, when he is considered dangerous or if he can jeopardize the progress of the process. Unlike the temporary one (which lasts 30 days, with the possibility of an extension), the preventive one has no term for its duration, but it can be revoked, according to the understanding of Justice.
The MPF has not yet filed a complaint against the indigenous people. According to the MPF, the agency will only decide on this matter after receiving the police investigation, which returned to the Federal Police of Rondônia for further investigation. Upon receiving the inquiry, the MPF has five days to decide whether or not to formalize a complaint against the Indians.
The DPU was contacted this Monday (31) by the report of the Real Amazon to inform what measures will be taken from now on, but the press office could not be found.
The Federal Police, in Rondônia, have been contacted since last Thursday (27), with no return. This Monday, the advisory said that the request for information sent by email is with the corregidor, but he was not in the body.
