“We have myths about how sexual violence works,” says the lawyer
The crime lawyer, who is working on four cases involving women who said they were raped by exBBB Felipe Prior, said even her daughter, a child, has already received threats in photos following the fallout from the progress of the trials.
1 of 1 Maira Pinheiro, criminal defense attorney defending four women who accused former BBB Felipe Prior of rape Photo: Reproduction/ GloboNews Maira Pinheiro, criminal defense attorney who defended four women who accused exBBB Felipe Prior of rape Photo: Playback/ GloboNews
“In April 2020 there was this first wave of very violent attacks on my social networks, on my photos, sometimes on photos of my daughter. I also received messages on WhatsApp,” Pinheiro said.
Maira explains that she received threats almost every day and had to close social networks. When an update of the case became known, the attacks intensified.
“It’s a case of aftermath. The option to speak to the media about this case is deliberate because we understand that part of women’s struggle is to break the silence to see other women doing the same thing,” she said.
She recounts a specific case in July 2021, when she received dozens of calls from a hidden number at dawn, citing the name of one of the victims despite the fact that it was confidential information, and also claiming that she knew where the lawyer was be lived.
An investigation into these links is currently underway.
“In July 2021, it was this event that gave rise to the police investigation currently underway here in São Paulo to investigate calls I received at dawn. We found out later that it was a Rondônia number. There were dozens of calls.” , a hidden number where the person referred to the name of the victim who is a protected witness so her name is confidential information but that person was in possession of that information and said they knew , where and live, it was very scary thing”, said.
This was just one of the instances where Maira was attacked for representing Themis* in the case where the woman reported former BBB Felipe Prior for rape. Earlier this month he was sentenced to six years in semiopen prison.
In addition to Themis, three other women have reported the architect for rape. To preserve their identity throughout the process, they were given pseudonyms of female deities: Freya, Isis, and Diana.
(*Fictitious name adopted by the defense to preserve the victim’s identity)
Previous case: Lawyer subject to attacks and threats
The victim gave details of the night of the crime
She said she has known him since school age. They got back together during college, but according to the victim, a friendly bond never developed between them.
On August 8, 2014, the two were at a party and met on the way out. Prior offered Themis and a friend a ride. they accepted.
The friend was dropped off at home first, and before she got to Themis’s, Prior stopped the car and started kissing her. Then he became more aggressive and raped her.
“He started undressing me and over time he became more and more aggressive towards me. I said ‘Felipe, I don’t want it, I don’t want it’, and he insisted, he kept removing my clothes and starting the penetration. Every time I said I didn’t want that, he got more aggressive… And the laceration happened, which was very painful. I shouted. A lot of blood started to ooze out. And I started screaming in pain and then he immediately stopped.
Three years later, it dawned on him: “He had raped me,” Themis said. In 2017 she was exposed to reports and complaints from other women who had been raped and realized what was being done to her.
In a note, Prior’s lawyers said, “Felipe Antoniazzi Prior’s defense affirms Felipe’s innocence and that the judgment of the 7th São Paulo Criminal Court must be appealed to the São Paulo State Court.” (Check out the full list below).
When Felipe Prior dropped out of the BBB in 2020, Themis saw him and returned to the night she was raped. Had an anxiety attack.
Six years later, Themis decided to denounce Prior when her friends received prints from other women who reported they had been through similar situations before.
What does Prior’s defense say?
searched by g1 and from Fantástico, Felipe Prior’s lawyers sent the following communication:
“The defense and Felipe himself continue to have full faith in the Brazilian judiciary and therefore in the reform of his wrongful conviction, as Felipe’s innocence has been conclusively proven by the evidence presented in the escalation of proceedings, which unfortunately was vented in a distorted manner and in disregard of the at trial applicable judicial secrecy a circumstance which will also be the subject of the relevant legislation.
His defense reiterates the complete innocence of Felipe Antoniazzi Prior and advises that Felipe will speak at the appropriate time and through a variety of means to clarify the distorted and untrue facts presented in response to the other means of communication.”