Sao Paulo City gripped in a “civil war” between organized crime and the police

“Here we have a civil war” said Judge Fausto de Sanctis from the Sao Paulo federal tribunal. Since last May at least 93 members of the police forces have been shot dead either on the beat or out of duty, presumably the so called First Command from the Capital, PCC, which is an organization of drug dealers born in Sao Paulo jails and from where it continues to control the illegal trade.
“Violence exists because of the certainty of impunity. I think the Brazilian policeman has been abandoned; he has no institutional structure support. Policemen are massacred, they are not much loved but he is a representative of the community” said Judge De Sanctis considered one of the best magistrates of the country, according to Folha de Sao Paulo.
When asked about the out of the law executions or ‘death squads’ in which police forces are involved in the so called ‘liberated’ areas, De Sanctis said that “when in war, it’s war and excesses will be committed. What happens is that Brazil is with closed eyes regarding this war”.
However, “for God’s sake I’m not supporting excesses, what I’m saying is that we are facing a war and wars must have war legislation. And if that legislation does not exist, organized crime ends taking over everything”, said De Sanctis.
The Folha de Sao Paulo interview follows a weekend in which at least fifteen people were shot or stabbed to death and 23 others injured in one of the most violent nights of the year in Brazil’s largest city, police sources said Sunday. (mercopress)