August 13, 2021

14:08

Déborah Arruda – from Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – The case against Raphael Wallace Saraiva de Souza, son of former lawmaker Wallace Souza, is still being processed in the Court of Justice of the State of Amazonas (TJAM). After the sentence of the 1st Jury Court of Manaus, which determined that Raphael will be tried by popular jury, the defense of the accused filed an appeal, a phase in which the process is at least eight months. Givanil Freitas Santos and Jair Martins da Silva are also defendants in the case.

According to information from TJAM, Raphael de Souza, who is Wallace’s son and nephew of Carlos and Fausto Souza -the last two absolved of association for trafficking-, responds for the crime of aggravated murder for, along with his father, having orchestrated the death of federal judge Jaíza Fraxe. The motivation of those involved would have been the arrest of the colonel of the Military Police of the State of Amazonas (PM-AM) Felipe Arce and other people, decreed by the judge, in the so-called “Operation Centurion”.

The sentence in case no. 0237936-75.2009.8.04.0001, of November 13, 2020, determined that the three defendants should be tried by popular jury, which should take place this year, but Raphael’s defense filed an appeal and there is still no update on whether the request was granted or refused.

Understand the case

According to the police investigation in the case file, Raphael and his late father, Wallace, had asked Luís João Macedo de Souza, known as “Luís Pulga”, to kill the magistrate. Because she refused the service, he and Raphael had an argument, which was repeated at another time. That was when “Luís Pulga” threatened to report him to the Federal Public Ministry (MPF).

Raphael then hired Juarez dos Santos Medeiros to kill Luís. The crime occurred in April 2008, in a butcher shop in the Coroado neighborhood. In 2015, the three defendants involved in the charges were charged for the crime, but the defense appealed and only in November 2020 the popular jury sentence was set.

“Courageous Brothers”

In July this year, the case against Carlos and Fausto Souza, known as “Courageous Brothers”, was judged by the first Criminal Chamber of the Court of Justice of the State of Amazonas (TJAM) and both were declared innocent of charges of committing the crime of association for drug trafficking. According to the TJAM, Carlos Alberto Cavalcante de Souza and Fausto de Souza Neto have not been charged with homicide crimes.

The accusation against the brothers was filed in 1st Degree, in 2009, after testimonies of police officer Moacir Jorge Pessoa da Costa, which gave rise to the known “Moa Case”. The case included evidence from “Operation Centurion” and from another lawsuit. In the 2nd Degree, the judge reporter of the process, João Mauro Bessa, said that there is no “robust” evidence that the accused joined in a stable way and with division of tasks for trafficking.