{"id":20389,"date":"2020-03-17T15:20:05","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T15:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/?post_type=noticia&p=20389"},"modified":"2021-04-05T12:10:51","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T12:10:51","slug":"ngos-call-on-public-prosecutors-office-to-investigate-weapon-fired-during-pro-government-rally-in-sao-paulo","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/ngos-call-on-public-prosecutors-office-to-investigate-weapon-fired-during-pro-government-rally-in-sao-paulo\/","title":"NGOs call on Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office to investigate weapon fired during pro-government rally in S\u00e3o Paulo","content":"

Following a gunshot that wounded a woman who was protesting against President Jair Bolsonaro during the pro-government rally on Avenida Paulista in S\u00e3o Paulo last Sunday, March 15, civil society organizations have issued a statement condemning violence at political protests.<\/p>\n

In the statement, the organizations Sou da Paz Institute, Brazilian Public Security Forum, Conectas Human Rights, Frente Favela Brasil (Favela Front Brazil) and Igarap\u00e9 Institute called on the S\u00e3o Paulo State Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office and Civil Police to immediately investigate the case and transparently release the results of the investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cNational politics is reaching intolerable levels of aggression and confrontation and the democratic sectors of society cannot accept political violence becoming a characteristic of the nation,\u201d they said. \u201cThe right to stage demonstrations and protests needs to be strengthened in Brazil, but for this to occur incidents of violence, especially by armed demonstrators, cannot be tolerated and warrant a quick response from the authorities\u201d.<\/p>\n

The organizations also condemned the event being held during the coronavirus pandemic and the support of government officials, such as President Bolsonaro, for the demonstration that called for the closure of democratic institutions, such as the National Congress and the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is extremely serious, in itself, that the organizers continued to stage the demonstrations in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, disregarding the unprecedented need for social distancing measures that the coronavirus requires,\u201d reads the document. \u201cAlso worthy of contempt is the fact that the federal authorities, including the president and members of Congress, who ought to be leading the country at this time of great distress, have explicitly supported the protests when many of the demonstrators are attacking the very existence of the Constituted Powers\u201d.<\/p>\n