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Today is 18th of July, I arrived from the manifestation in Leblon, I was arrested, accused
of conspiracy (forming a criminal gang) and I will tell... a person who is forming a criminal
gang like me, I guess, don't try to expose himself. My name is Bernardo.. I will say
my full name Bernardo Seabra Machado Soares, I am 28, I was graduated in Jornalism, I was
never accused of any criminal case before. I will report for you how outrageous was the
experience I lived today. I want all of you brazilians, cariocas, and from every corner
in the world to watch my report and sympathize , identify yourselves with my case, and mainly
realized what this governmnet (Rio's government) and Cabral (the governor) have been doing
with the protesters. I was with nothing. No bags or stones or anything. Simply the police
in a random hour started shooting, there were some vandalism cases in Visconde de Pirajá,
but I didn't participate in any case, I was with no stones or bags when I was arrested.
Police started throwing bombs, and shooting with rubber bullets on us so we ran, obviously,
so we started running, running, running and the tear gas made us feeling out of breath.
Some people and I took a shelter in a building, which was not in Visconde de Pirajá, as the
register of our arrest in flagrant says, so the fraud started at the very begginning because
we were not arrested in Visconde de Pirajá, we were arrested in a more internal street
of Ipanema. It was exacty like that we were in a group of 7, if I am not wrong, 7 people
were charged. Me and 6 more. We were in a group of 7 people, the cops didn't inspect
us. They simply told was we were arrested (no charges at that moment were made). So
I asked them the causes of our arrest, because being arrested like that (in Brazil) is only
legally possible when there is a flagrant.So they said again "you will be arrested" and
I asked once more "for what reason?". They simply didn't tell any reasons for our arrest.
So I tell them: "I cannot be arrested, I will only be arrested if you cops drag me, you
will have to kill me. So they dragged me and handcuffed me. So I was put in the back of
the police's car. I was handcuffed for nothing. I was not even inspected. I was with nothing.
I didnt even know the eople who was charged with me in forming a group (we were just running
close to each other and searching a shelter to escape from the rubber bullets). So, everyone
can see how absurd was it. At the policie station, cellphones of the people there were
ringing all the time. Superior orders because we were arrested to be the "scapegoat" for
the others. They want to arrest innocent people to scare others. I asked a lawyer from OAB
(Brazilian Lawyers Order) at the police station the guarantee that I will not be arrest again
if I attend another manifestation. She replied: "None". So there is no guarantee because the
police can simply arrest me, create a forged flagrant, just like the same as they did today,
a tremendous lie... Im here exposing myself, when we are forming a criminal gang we not
expose yourselves, I'm telling my name, I live in Niteroi, I'm journalist and journalist
in general, not only them but everybody should be touched with what happened. The total disrespect
of the human rights. We were arrested, incarcereted in a cell we spend more or less 4 hours there
we saw the name of some criminal organizations sprayed on the walls. A fetid prison. And
once again with NO ACCUSATIONS. Simply the soldiers created an acussation because they
didnt see anything. I had nothing. I am putting myself in the front because I want to spread
this message for everybody, brazilians, because we do not live in a democracy. Today this
was undoubtedly. We must wake up! They want our silence, they dont want to hear our voices.
They just want to scare us. We are among of the 12 most unequal countries in the world.
We have a lot of problems to solve. Cabral accused of severals scandals, such as use
irregulary helicopters, the Delta scandal, "mensaleiros" scandal in Lula government , "Banestado
scandal" in Fernando Henrique Cardoso government. Scaldans of corruption both from PT and PSDB
parties and why the deputates who participed in those scandals are not arrested? At the
same time we are arrest because of nothing. I was in the manifestation against Cabral
and I was arrested with no accussations, they simply invented a charge of "forming a criminal
gang" with people I had never met before in my life. They forged the place we were arrested
and why? Because in Visconde de Piraja, as they told we were arrested in the register,
there were happening vandalism, but on the street we were "arrested in flagrant" there
was no vandalism. So, once again we were taken as "scapegoat" to scare us and to be an example
to scare others as well. One cop, Thiago Freitas de Oliveira, and I am a witness, kicked and
assaulted a girl when we were on the floor. The girl needeed to talk on the phone because
she was very nervous, and there were no acussations against us, A boy who was shot with rubber
bullet on the forehead was trampled by other cop. The Amnesty Internacional recommends
that rubber bullets can only be shot below the waist, so this is a total desrespect against
the human rights. Police is wrong from the very beginning. The cops who arrested us should
be in prison because of violation against human rights, not us. We shouldn't have been
arrested. Not only the cops should be arrested because they receive superior orders. Cabral
should be arrested and all of the corrupted deputates who are embezzlement our public
funds. We need, fellows, to stay on the streets, and more than that we must felt indignated
with what happened because what happened with me, I was taken as "the scapegoat", can happen
with anyone. I will repeat again my full name Bernardo Seabra Machado Soares, 28 years,
journalist, I am not hidding myself, because I was there to fight for the people I was
there to fight for me and for everyone, for a better Brazil. And the situation is not
good. What has been happening is not good. I suffered a total arbitrary, a tremendous
coercitive power in a intention to silence my voice, but my voice will not be silenced
and I want that your voices will not be silenced as well. W need to be on the streets. We need
to protest. And the more the police do this to us stronger we will be. The truth is with
us. We are innocent. And when we are innocent, when we have consciousness and when we do
the things, thinking in everybody, we can reverse the situation. I was arrested because
I thought in everybody, I was there not only thinking in myself but in all brazilians.
Today I am the defendant, but tomorrow the defendants will be the people who arrested
me. Because we are going to fight for this. We are right. We did nothing wrong. I was
with the same close that I am wearing now. I was with nothing, not even a stone. I was
with one mask, N95 to manage to deal with tear gas. So they didn't have any acussations
to arrest me. All the acussations were forged. So, please, I would like that everyone spread
this video worldwidely. Let's go, fellows! Let's go because we do not live in a democracy.
Goethe said: "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
Today we are slaves, but the unity and strength of us can set us free.