March 24, 2023

19:03

Marcela Leiros – from Amazon Agency

MANAUS – The Justice of the Amazon dismissed the request of the mayor of Manaus, David Almeida (Avante), for the CENARIUM MAGAZINE to remove from the air the news story “Federal investigate Manaus’ mayor’s sister on raffle of popular houses”. The decision of Judge Marcelo Manuel da Costa Vieira, of the 8th Court of the Special Civil Court, is also unfavorable to the mayor’s request for compensation for moral damages.

The report, published on September 29, 2021, revealed that Federal Police (PF) agents and members of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), in Amazonas, were investigating Dulce Almeida as the person responsible for the changes in the list sent to Caixa Econômica Federal of “eligible families” to receive popular apartments in Residencial Manauara 2.

The program, a partnership between the Manaus City Hall and the federal government, was aimed at low-income people and residents of risk areas and contemplated relatives of the mayor’s daughter, Fernanda Aryel, David Almeida’s chief of staff, relatives of the mayor’s aides and even businessmen. The accusation arose from a publication by former Manaus councilman Amom Mandel (Citizenship), currently a federal lawmaker for Amazonas.

Judge Marcelo Manuel da Costa Vieira justifies that the publication did not make value judgment about David Almeida, and that the allegations came from a legitimate source, in this case, the former councilman Amom. The magistrate also recalls that the press is entitled to freedom of expression of thought and the prohibition of prior censorship.

“In this case, the allegation of accusation was taken from the information contained in the complaint of the young councilman, for the practice, in theory, of crimes capitulated in the Penal Code and other legal norms, so it must be concluded that the defendant did not make criticism based on invented facts, but by what is in the investigation, and derives, therefore, from these sources, which legitimizes the journalist to make considerations (…),” explains the magistrate.

The magistrate also states that a public man, as is the mayor of Manaus, should not only expect good news, as long as there is no offense. “Sometimes he has to see published facts of his life that he would not like. In these publications, excesses can occur. But if there is no deliberate purpose to offend, especially because it arises from an existing fact, there is no moral damage to be compensated,” he added.

Understand the case

The residential Citizen Manauara was delivered on August 18, 2021, in a ceremony attended by the then President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro (PL). With salaries of up to R$ 4 thousand in commissioned positions in the Manaus City Hall, the aunts of the mayor’s daughter, Fernanda Aryel Almeida, were contemplated in the “drawing” of Caixa Econômica (Federal Savings Bank) to receive apartments.

CENARIUM MAGAZINE also showed that the list of candidates eligible to receive the houses was changed on the eve of the draw of the Caixa Economica, according to documents obtained by the report. The beneficiaries were drawn by the Caixa Econômica after being screened by the city hall.

Read also: ‘Case Residencial Manauara’: David management changed the list of Caixa and relatives defrauded data

Records also showed that two months before joining the selection of Caixa, the aunt and cousin of the mayor’s daughter, Fernanda Aryel, made registration in the Social Identification Number (NIS) – national register interconnected to the bank – computing income different from what they received at the time.