The São Paulo Court of Justice converted the arrest in flagrante delicto, on charges of racism, of the Uruguayan physical trainer Sebastian Avellino Vargas, of the Peruvian football club Universitario, into preventive action. The decision was announced this Wednesday afternoon (12), after Sebastian Vargas went through a custody hearing at the Minister Mário Guimarães Criminal Forum, in Barra Funda, west of São Paulo. The 43-year-old professional was arrested on Tuesday night (11) after making racist gestures, imitating a monkey, towards Corinthians fans, during the Peruvian club’s game against Corinthians, for the Copa Sudamericana playoffs, in Neo Química Arena, east zone of São Paulo. In the end, the Brazilians prevailed by 1 to 0. According to a note from the Public Security Secretariat (SSP) of São Paulo, the racist statements made by the Universitario’s physical trainer after the game drew the attention of military police who were guarding the stadium and witnesses would have confirmed the act of the Uruguayan. The case was registered at the 24th DP, in Ponte Rasa, east zone, as a result of race and color prejudice. In an official note, Universitario considered “inadmissible, humiliating and outrageous” the fact that Sebastian Vargas was detained by the authorities and spent a night in prison. “We repudiate this type of humiliation on the part of the Brazilian authorities who intend, without any evidence, to carry out arbitrary arrests”, says the note from the Peruvian club. And he adds: “Throughout the game, a group of supporters from the local team hurled insults and spit at our players and coaching staff. Those same people who committed insults, at the end of the game, accused the physical trainer of discriminatory acts. This distorted accusation and subjective is the one that the Brazilian authorities validated as true, without the right to reply, which is why they ordered his arrest and transfer to a police station in São Paulo”. In May last year, the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) increased the amount of fines for clubs that are involved in cases of racism in competitions organized by the entity. The amount went from US$ 30,000 to US$ 100,000 (about R$ 480,000 at current exchange rates). In January of this year, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sanctioned Law 14,532, which typifies racial injury as a crime of racism – which was already considered a crime in the country by Law 7,716, of 1989. With the sanction, the penalty was increased from one to three years to two to five years of imprisonment. * Article updated at 1:45 pm to correct, in the third paragraph, the Police District (DP) to which the physical trainer was taken, the 24th DP was initially informed. * Text updated at 5:22 pm, after the custody hearing of the Uruguayan physical trainer, whose decision was to convert the prison in flagrante delicto into preventive. ** Reporting in partnership with reporter Lincoln Chaves.
Agência Brasil
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