WHY IS CRIME RAMPANT IN BRAZIL???
Well, to even begin to answer that question one must understand how things really are in this country. They must know a little bit about the lax legislation in this country, how those laws have been crafted and by whom. They must understand also the Brazilian cultural and seeminly absolute acceptance of mediocrity and incompetence in everything about this country, and their reluctance to do anything about it.
Brazil's FAILED justice system:
In a country where it can take a decade or more for some cases to come to trial, one can't expect justice in the first place. If the State doesn't use the trite excuse that the courts are backlogged, then defense lawyers here use every trick in the book in order to delay trials. If they can't disqualify the facts, then they attack the jurisdiction of the court, seek a change of venue for the trial. If that's not successful then they try and discredit the judge who will hear the case. Then they use the delay (that in most cases they themselves have caused) in order to justify a Hábeas Corpus, freeing their client if the client was incarcerated in the first place.
A recent conviction in Minas Gerais is a prime example of this farsical justice system. Just the other day, almost 12 years after the crime was committed, Antério Mânica the ex-mayor of Unai -MG was convicted of the January 2004 assassination of 3 investigators from the Ministry of Labor and their driver in Unai, and sentenced to 100 years in prison. Following sentencing Mânica walked out the front door of the court. He will remain free simply because he was not in custody at the beginning of the trial, and because his defense lawyer has filed an appeal. That's the lopsided justice system in this country for you. Nowhere else in the world a convicted murderer would simply walk away because his case was being appealed, he'd have to wait for the results of that appeal behind bars, but not here in Brazil. So a case that has already taken well over a decade to come to trial, will probably drag through this country's lethargic justice system for another decade until Mânica even sees the inside of a prison cell, if ever.
Ex-mayor of Unai - MG arriving for trial more than a decade after assassinations.
This is not at all uncommon in Brazil. There are numerous convicted murderers walking the streets in this country, leading normal lives because their lawyers have filed appeals for one reason or another, knowing that it will take years for those appeals to be heard. This is exactly what happened with Gil Rugai convicted for the murder of his parents and sentenced to 39 years in prison. He too walked out the front door of the courthouse and has been living a completely normal existence for the past two years.
Brazil's antiquated and overly lax laws:
The Brazilian Penal Code was enacted in 1940 and has remained virtually unchanged in the past 75 years. How in the world can anyone expect to see justice done with such outdated laws? It's just not possible.
Then too, the Federal Consitution was enacted in 1988, so all laws no matter when they were enacted must conform to the Constitution. Who crafted those laws and the Constitution in the first place? Brazil's corrupt and incompetent politicians did, of course! They've deliberately crafted an excessively lax set of laws and a Constitution that protects them and gives them complete impunity for their own wrongdoing and criminal acts. So, these very same laws also favor the criminal elements in Brazilian society. They completely abandon the average law-abiding Brazilian citizen to their own devices.
In fact, what has been created is a two-tier justice system, with one set of laws for the rich and another completely different for the poor. Well, it's the same system, but the poor simply cannot avail themselves of the loopholes that have been built into it by design, simply because they're poor.
The law regarding “em flagrante de delito”:
Unless someone is arrested for a crime within 24 hours of its commission, they do not go to jail, unless a judge orders temporary imprisonment (30 days) which can be extended in some cases, or orders preventative imprisonment which means there is no limit. So a person can murder someone, go into hiding for 24 hours; after that they can either turn themselves in (usually with a lawyer present) or wait until they're found and arrested. In either case since they were not arrested “em flagranted de delito” they are released to await trial in liberty. The gravity of the crime has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with this legal concept, you could murder a hundred people and still be free until trial simply by virtue of not being arrested within 24 hours of the last murder. That's absolutely offensive and downright sick.
Bail and Hábeas Corpus:
Writs of Hábeas Corpus are handed out like candy by judges in this country. In many cases they are simply purchased. There have been numerous cases where judges at all levels have been charged for selling sentences, selling Hábeas Corpuses, etc. There is absolutely no punishment for this... what happens is that the judge is forced into retirement at full pay! Where the hell is the justice in that?
Bail (fiança) used to mean something in this country; but it doesn't anymore! Thanks to the present government who have revamped all the bail requirements and the list of crimes for which one COULD NOT be granted bail. One of those crimes was “porte ilegal de arma de fogo” (illegal posession of a firearm). So, while if you killed someone you could qualify for bail; if you shot them to death you wouldn't qualify for bail because you were also charged with the weapons offense. Now that has been changed, porte ilegal de arma de fogo is now an crime for which the accused can be granted bail. More and more dangerous offenders are being put right back out on the streets as a result.
Special Courts and Prisons for politicians and police:
Yes, you heard that correctly! Politicians in this country, and police, in fact anyone with a university degree gets special treatment under Brazilian laws. For most things politicians have completel impunity and for many crimes they can only be tried by the Federal Supreme Court. Police have their own justice system, as does all of the military. If convicted of a crime a police officer is NOT automatically expelled from the police force, that is a separate matter; and the officer serves his time in a special prison which ony houses police officers. Lawyers are also extended this same privilege. Their prison cells look just like your average motel room and usually have all the same conveniences too... air conditioner, television, ample window (even if it does have bars), bathroom, and a nice comfortable bed. That's if any of them are actually convicted, which rarely happens in the first place.
Is this a prison cell or a motel room? Hard to tell, isn't it?
Nobody goes to jail anyway:
Unless one is convicted of a crime and sentenced to MORE THAN 4 years in prison, they don't go to prison at all in this country. That's right, up to 4 years they are given some form of alternative sentencing such as fines (usually paid in basic food baskets), community service, house arrest, etc.
Incompetent and underfunded police:
Police forces all over Brazil are grossly underfunded by the government, and as a result the level of competency is virtually ZERO right from the rank and file officer all the way up to the top of the chain of command. Police officers are paid near-slave wages, and the three richest states (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais) pay their police officers much lower salaries than the smaller and poorer states do. It's absolutely no wonder that there are over 50 thousand murders in this country every year and less than 8 percent of those are ever solved.
So, now you know:
This is exactly why criminals in this country have absolutely no fear and why they will kill you in a heartbeat, with absolutely no remorse.... simply because they can, and there is no consequence for doing so.
Oh, yeah and just when you think that things can't get worse, I have news for you...
Christmas is coming up, folks. All prisons release dangerous and violent convicts for holidays like Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day. Many of them simply use the release to go right back to committing violent crimes. Others still (and way too many of them) simply never return to the prison afterwards, and we all know the Brazilian police's record on finding and capturing fugitives, don't we?