Injustice System

Organizations call for investigation and removal of Judge Sartori

Several organizations and public figures who work in the field of human rights filed a disciplinary complaint today against Appellate Judge Ivan Sartori, of the São Paulo State Court of Appeals. The complaint has been forwarded to the president of the CNJ (National Justice Council), Justice Cármen Lúcia.

The document calls on the CNJ to investigate abuse and lack of isonomy and impartiality by the judge for his part in the ruling on the “Carandiru Massacre” case. The organizations are requesting his temporary removal to avoid any influence on the decisions of the other appellate judges in the case and, subsequently, his forced retirement if the investigation by the CNJ confirms the violations.

At a hearing held in the 4th Criminal Chamber of the São Paulo State Court of Appeals on September 27, Judge Sartori voted to annul the trial of the 74 police officers who had been sentenced for the crime, alleging that “there was no massacre, it was legitimate self-defense”.

“The argument of legitimate self-defense to annul the verdict of the jury bore no relation to the evidence that was presented. The appellate judge’s vote is unacceptable in such crimes against human rights, in which military police officers abused their power, killing the prisoners who were not resisting,” said the organizations in the document.

The complaint also calls for an investigation into the posture of Judge Sartori on the social networks, where he insinuated that the negative repercussions of his decision on the Carandiru case were related to the financing of the press and human rights organizations by organized crime.

Among the organizations that signed the document are the Brazilian Public Security Forum, Conectas Human Rights, Justiça Global, Conic (National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil), the Justice and Peace Commission, the Public Policy Laboratory of the Rio de Janeiro State University, the Center for Justice and International Law (Cejil), the Paulo Freire Institute, the Sou da Paz Institute and the Vladimir Herzog Institute.

The complaint was also endorsed by public figures, jurists and academics such as Angelo Alonso, Antonio Funari Filho, Cláudio Gonçalves Couto, Dalmo Dallari, Fábio Konder Comparato, José Luiz Del Roio, Luiz Felipe de Alencastro, Marco Lucchesi, Maria Arminda do Nascimento Arruda, Maria Hermínia Tavares de Almeida, Maria Victória Benevides, Marilena Chauí, Rogério Cézar Cerqueira Leite, Rosa Freire Furtado and Walnice Galvão, as well as the former ministers from the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration Gilberto Saboia, José Gregori, Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira and Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro.

Procedure

According to the request made by the organizations, the complaint will first be forwarded directly to Justice Cármen Lúcia, who will submit it to a full session of the CNJ. All 15 members of the Council, including the president herself, will analyze the complaint and decide whether to open an Administrative Disciplinary Case that, in practice, would represent formal charges against Ivan Sartori, or whether to refer the complaint to the Internal Affairs Commissioner, João Otávio de Noronha. In this case, the internal affairs office would either ask for the case to be opened, conduct an inquiry into the conduct of the judge and then return it to the decision of the Council, or otherwise shelve the request.

• Read here the disciplinary complaint.