The STJ (Supreme Court) has decided to dismiss the appeal filed to annul the decision of the jury that convicted four defendants in the Kiss nightclub tragedy that occurred in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, in January 2013. information from R7.s.

Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria – Photo: Arquivo/Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil/ND

The concert hall fire killed 242 people and injured 636, one of the most tragic episodes in Brazilian history. The STJ’s decision means that a new jury will need to be appointed for the defendants.

The jury trial that sentenced the defendants took place in December 2021, with Elissandro Callegaro Spohr sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison, Mauro Londero Hoffmann to 19 years and six months, and Marcelo de Jesus dos Santos and Luciano Augusto Bonilla Lean – by the age of 18. years.

The judge determined for all the defendants a closed regime and temporary execution of sentences.

However, in a decision last year, the TJRS (Court of Rio Grande do Sul) annulled the jury for four main reasons: irregularities in jury selection, including drawing lots after the deadline set by the Code of Criminal Procedure; holding a closed meeting of the presiding jurors with the jurors during the court session without the presence of the defense and the prosecutor’s office; illegality in the development of issues considered by the jury members; and the alleged charge raised during the response phase.

Consideration of the appeal in STJ began on June 13 and was marked by disagreements between the judges. The rapporteur, Minister Rogerio Schietti Cruz, voted in favor of the Rio Grande do Sul State Ministry’s appeal, defending the preservation of the jury’s decision.

In Schietti’s view, the defendants’ defense failed to demonstrate the damage they could have suffered due to the alleged irregularities in the course of the trial, which, in his view, would have prevented the sentence from being declared null and void.

The tragedy at the Kiss nightclub claimed the lives of 242 people – Photo: Tomaz Silva/Agência Brasil

However, Minister Antonio Saldanha Palheiro this Tuesday (5) opened the divergence, followed by other ministers, including Sebastian Reis, Gezuino Rissato and Laurita Vas.

Trial of Kiss in a nightclub

Saldanha stated that some of the actions taken in the original decision in the Boate Kiss case would have harmed the defense, highlighting the increase in the number of jurors and the meeting of the trial judge with the jury without the presence of the defense, a situation which he qualifies as “absolute nullity”.

Thus, the STJ’s decision affirms the jury’s annulment and calls for a new trial of those accused of the Kiss nightclub tragedy, a case that continues to spark uproar and debate about justice and responsibility for the tragic events of that fateful night in Santa Maria. .