CNJ will investigate judge who tried to prevent abortion in 11-year-old girl

The National Council of Justice (CNJ) decided to open administrative disciplinary proceedings to investigate the conduct of judge Joana Ribeiro Zimmer during a hearing involving an 11-year-old girl who became pregnant after being a victim of rape, in Santa Catarina. The decision, taken on Tuesday (20), was unanimous. The case gained repercussions in early 2022, when the magistrate did not initially grant an abortion. During the hearing, which was recorded on video, she and the public prosecutor in charge suggested that the pregnancy continue for “one or two weeks” and asked the child if she “could bear to stay a little longer” pregnant. “What expectations do you have for the baby? Do you want to see him born?”, Joana Zimmer asked the girl, who replied in the negative. Then, the magistrate says that the child could “choose the name of the baby”, or forward it for adoption, apparently in an attempt to dissuade her from the decision to terminate the pregnancy. The advisers followed the vote of the national justice inspector, Minister Luís Felipe Salomão, according to which, there are indications that the judge acted to prevent abortion, to which the girl was entitled, due to her religious convictions. The attempt would have been made when the child was in a shelter, away from living with the mother. “It appears that there are evidences indicating misconduct by Judge Joana Ribeiro through which, in apparent collusion with the prosecutor, she distorted the institution of institutional care in order to subjugate the child’s licit will to interrupt pregnancy resulting from an offense analogous to the crime of rape of a vulnerable person”, said Salomão. When voting for the opening of the disciplinary administrative process, councilor Vieira de Mello Filho said that the “situation is very serious due to the insertions of moral and religious convictions by a State agent, in a way that configures violence from a vulnerable person that should be accepted”. The termination of pregnancy resulting from sexual violence is authorized by the Penal Code. The law does not provide for the number of weeks for pregnancy or the need for judicial authorization to carry out the procedure.

Agência Brasil