Another 15 police officers convicted over Carandiru massacre
Crosses laid in memory of inmates killed in Carandiru -
A group of fifteen police officers have been sentenced to 48 years in prison for killing four inmates during a police operation in the now-defunct São Paulo Penitentiary. The incident became known as the Carandiru Massacre, in a reference to the name of the district where the prison used to be located.
The massacre took place on October 2, 1992, when police stormed block 9 of the penitentiary to suppress a rebellion, in a raid that resulted in 111 inmates killed.
Because of the large number of defendants and victims involved, the trial was split into four rounds, based on the events that took place in each of the four cell floors that made up block 9. This final round, which ended Wednesday (Apr. 2), completed a process which began in April last year. Throughout the case, 49 out of a total 73 police officers have been sentenced to jail times longer than a hundred years, and some of them, as many as 600 years.
Under Brazilian law, however, convicts can remain no more than 30 years in jail, which means that the only aggravating consequence of the lengthy convictions is the lower chances of parole eligibility upon completion of a third of the sentence. Anyway, for now, all convicts should remain at liberty until all outstanding appeals have been settled.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Another 15 police officers convicted over Carandiru massacre
