On July 20, 2010, military police officers Marcelo José Leal Martins and Marcelo de Souza Bigon set out to be run over in the acoustic tunnel in Gávea, south of Rio de Janeiro. The victim was Rafael Mascarenhas, 18 years old, son of actress Cissa Guimarães and musician Raul Mascarenhas.
The person responsible for running over Mascarenhas was Rafael de Souza Bussamra. According to the complaint, he was participating in a race nearby when he entered the tunnel, which was closed for maintenance. At the crime scene, Cissa and Raul’s son was skateboarding with other friends when he was hit by the vehicle. Shortly after the accident, the defendant’s father, Roberto Bussamra, allegedly offered bribes so that agents could help free his son.
The agreed amount would be R$10,000. R$1,000 would have been paid out immediately and the other R$9,000 would have been delivered the next day. While police were agreeing on the price for Bussamra’s release, Mascarenhas died. The victim was rescued and taken to Miguel Couto Hospital, where he was diagnosed with multiple traumas to his head, chest, arms and legs. He did not survive and died hours later, on the same day of the accident.
On that occasion, according to the complaint, Roberto arranged with officers to take the vehicle that hit Mascarenhas to a repair shop before the investigation began. In addition to clearing the crime scene, the police were also bribed to avoid arresting the defendant in the act last week the court in Rio de Janeiro ordered the arrest of Rafael and Roberto Bussamra.
Martins and Bigon denied asking for bribes to help Bussamra. However, in his testimony, Roberto stated that he paid the police officers the agreed amount to help his son.
Last Sunday (3), Cissa Guimarães highlighted in an interview with Fantástico that the police officers were bribed for R$ 10,000 while her son was dying. “My God in heaven, while [a negociação do valor] While there was a discussion about how much money should be given, a person was dying.
What happened to the two prime ministers:
In 2010, Marcelo José Leal Martins and Marcelo de Souza Bigon were expelled from the Rio de Janeiro military police after receiving bribes in the case of the murder of Rafael Mascarenhas. The two have no longer had any connection to the institution since 2010, as reported Squirt by the company’s consultants.
The Prime Minister’s inquiry concluded in October 2010 that the two police officers had breached ethics and police duty, “contrary to the provisions of the current legal provisions in State Law 443/198”. The document also states that “the two do not have the essential qualifications for the status of military police officers, as they have distanced themselves from the lessons taught to them in their academic training.”
Martins and Bigon were brought to court for passive bribery and failure to fulfill their assigned task. In 2012, two years after Mascarenhas’ death, the TJRJ (Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro) sentenced the two former agents to five years of semiopen prison.
At that time, Judge Marcius da Costa Ferreira ruled that the two defendants could remain free until the criminal verdict becomes final, i.e. until an appeal to higher courts is no longer possible.
The two appealed against Costa Ferreira’s decision. The final instance was the STF (Supreme Federal Court), which rejected the appeals filed by the military’s defense.
Marcelo de Souza Bigon had exhausted all legal remedies in April 2018 when an arrest warrant was issued against his conviction.
Marcelo José Leal Martins’ appeal options were exhausted in March 2019 when the Rio court issued an arrest warrant against his conviction.
The case of the two former military police officers was archived by the court in Rio de Janeiro in April 2019.
Squirt TJRJ asked if Martins and Bigon were still in prison, but received no answer. When the reply is sent, this article will be updated. The report was unable to locate the former police officers’ defense attorneys. The room remains open for demonstrations.
Father and son arrested
Thirteen years after the death of Rafael Mascarenhas, the TJRJ ordered the arrest of Rafael and Roberto Bussamra. The arrest warrants were issued on August 19, when the defendants were informed of the decision.
Of the twelve years and nine months he was sentenced, Rafael is serving three years and six months for manslaughter, if there is no intention to kill. Roberto, who was sentenced to eight years and 11 months in prison for corruption, must serve a sentence of three years and 10 months. Both will serve their sentences in a semiopen regime.
Fantástico informed the defense of Rafael and Roberto Bussamra that the defendants have been summoned by the police and will present himself in court within 15 days, starting last Friday (29).
The crimes the father and son were accused of included fleeing the scene of an accident, participating in a race and tampering with a car before the investigation.
Cissa claims relief after the decision
After the decision in favor of arresting the defendants, Cissa Guimarães said she was relieved. “13 years are not 13 days. It’s the relief that justice is being served and this battle is being won that I thought was won so long ago. But I never gave up.” [Esssa decisão significa] honor his life and honor his memory.
Guimarães also stressed that she was hurt that the defendants’ families did not come to her to ask for forgiveness. “It hurts me very much that no one from the family has ever come to me, they wanted a request for forgiveness, I even have the impression that I would forgive,” he told Fantástico. The actress emphasized that she never felt the desire to look for them, that she met them once in a court hearing and that they “didn’t even look at her.”
Remember the case
On July 20, 2010, Rafael Mascarenhas, son of Cissa Guimarães Raul Mascarenhas, died after being run over in the Acoustic Tunnel (now the Rafael Mascarenhas Tunnel) in Gávea, south of Rio de Janeiro.
That morning, 18yearold Rafael was skateboarding with friends in the tunnel, which was closed for maintenance, when he was hit by a speeding vehicle. According to witness statements, two cars took advantage of the tunnel closure to stage a “race”.
Rafael Bussamra, who was driving the vehicle that struck Mascarenhas, fled the scene without providing assistance.
Mascarenhas was taken to Miguel Couto Hospital still alive. He came to the ward with multiple traumas to his head, chest, arms and legs. The boy underwent surgery but died around 8 a.m. the same day.