Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
A woman from Brazil was sentenced to 14 years in prison after writing an offensive message on a statue during the riots that took place in the country in January 2023, reports the BBC.
Debora Rodrigues took part in the protests in January 2023, along with other supporters of the former president, Jair Bolsonaro.
In the demonstrations, which broke out after the defeat suffered by him in the 2022 elections, Bolsonaro's supporters attacked government buildings.
Was convicted for several offenses
Cristiano Zanin, one of the five judges in the Complete to deal with Rodrigues's case, stressed that the woman was not convicted exclusively for graffiti, but for committing several crimes.
Debora Rodrigues was arrested in a larger investigation, in which an alleged plot was investigated for committing a coup against the president elected at the 2022 election, Lula Da Silva.
She was convicted for several crimes, including the destruction of property, belonging to a criminal organization and a coup attempt.
The 39 -year -old hairdresser asked for forgiveness because he wrote “You lost, idiot” on the statue of justice in front of the Supreme Court – an incident nicknamed the “coup” with lipstick.
Rodrigues claims that he did not take part in violence. The woman told the court that she was “a good citizen”.
“I went to protests and I didn't imagine they would be so turbulent,” Rodrigues said. “I never did anything illegal in my life,” she said.
His lawyers said that the woman did not enter any building during the riots and acted from the impulse in the “fever of the moment”. She said she regrets her actions.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who presides over the case, said that Rodrigues was aligned “consciously and voluntarily” with the demonstrators who were trying to overthrow the government.
He added that Rodrigues recognized participation in antidemocratic acts in the testimony in front of the police and that the gaps in the messages on her phone suggest that she tried to hide evidence.
The case has become a mobilization subject for Bolsonaro's supporters, who believes that Debora Rodrigues is a victim of political persecution and accuses the Supreme Court of becoming too strong and partisan.
In February, a video about Rodrigues has gone viral on social networks. The following month, Jair Bolsonaro distributed a woman's post and asked for amnesty for those involved in the 2023 riots.
Bolsonaro is also facing criminal procedures for the alleged coup attempt. If found guilty, the former president of Brazil risks being sentenced to over 40 years in prison.
