On Monday, July 30, 2012, the Brazilian judge Murilo Kieling announced the release of five young men from Ilha do Governador in Rio de Janeiro. They had been in preventive prison since February after brutally attacking Vitor Suarez, a student who was trying to stop them from beating a homeless person on the street.
A report by mainstream media Rede Record in February, shared [1] [pt] on the blog of Welliton Cordeiro Pires, features a video from a citizen who bears witness to Vitor being attacked with kicks in his face on February 3. Vitor is still recovering [2] [pt] from a surgical procedure to plant 63 pins in his face.
Early on the morning of July 31 [3] [pt], the victim – who is active on Twitter (@EuVitorSuarez [4]), Facebook [5] and also a blogger [6] – started a wave of protest under the hashtag #JusticaVitorSuarez [7] (JusticeVitorSuarez) [pt] against the court decision:
inicio do ano fui espancado por defender um morador de rua, agora eles estão livres. Me ajude com a TAG #justicavitorsuarez [8]
[9]“If you are against impunity too, share! “justicavitorsuarez”. Banner in support of Vitor Suarez, by Rede Esgoto de Televisão on Facebook
Reactions of outrage on Twitter were immediate.
Andrea Castanheira (@andrea_c_cast [10]) wrote:
Chega de impunidade. Enquanto tivermos este tipo de decisão da justiça a violência só irá aumentar. #justicavitorsuarez [8]
Matheus M de Souza (@matheusmraposo [11]) said:
@EuVitorSuarez [12] cara, eu nuca fui fã do Twitter. Mas hoje faço parte dele só pela sua causa. Uma andorinha não faz verão, mas seremos todas.
And Everton (@gnueverton [13]) from Porto Alegre added:
Este caso #justicavitorsuarez [8] deve nos indignar e nos movimentar p/mudar esse mundo. Estamos em época d eleições e saber votar é 1 começo.
[14]“Don't allow this to end on black and white”. Banner from Nós Queremos Justiça (We Want Justice) on Facebook
Netizens revolted against the judge's decision to replace the remand by alternative measures and also for considering that there wasn't an intent to kill in the attack against Vitor Suarez, which means that the aggressors won't be subject to a people's trial [15] [pt], but only to a conventional court. A petition [16] [pt] launched on Avaaz on August 2, asking the judge to reconsider his decision, has reached fifteen thousand subscribers in about 24 hours.
Now that his aggressors are back to their normal lives, while Vitor is still away from home recovering, he mourns [17] [pt] “for all of us who form this body called society”:
Meu caso teve uma repercussão mundial, pessoas de todos os lugares do mundo visitam diariamente meu blog e me mandam mensagens de apoio. O que me faz lembrar daquelas pessoas que passam por coisas piores, que vivem de forma desumana, e não possuem a menor informação pra botar pra fora tudo isso, e fazer com que o mundo saiba de cada problema que vivem. Porque, mesmo com vídeos, provas, fotos, e meu corpo sendo a maior prova de todo esse processo, os caras que quase me mataram estão LIVRES, e penso nos casos que não tiveram a sorte de ter repercussão, pra onde vão ?