São Paulo police officers to face jury for Paraisópolis deaths

A judge in São Paulo has ruled that 12 military police officers will face a jury trial for the deaths of nine young people during a 2019 funk party in the Paraisópolis favela. The decision was issued by Judge Ana Luisa Marcondes Esteves of the 1st Jury Court.

The officers face charges of nine counts of qualified homicide and two counts of serious bodily injury against survivors. The court maintained the qualifiers of base motive and common danger. The prosecution alleges that the officers, while on duty, deliberately failed to follow minimum rules for crowd dispersal and instead acted with violence to provoke panic and suffering by confining victims in a specific block.

The defendants will remain free while awaiting trial. The judge rejected preliminary defense requests to annul stages of the process, stating no prejudice to the right of defense was identified. One additional officer has also been charged with the crime of explosion.