All defendants in the fire at Ninho do Urubu are acquitted by the Rio de Janeiro Court

The Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice (TJ-RJ) acquitted seven defendants who were still being tried for the fire at Ninho do Urubu , which killed 10 Flamengo youth players in 2019. The sentence was published this Tuesday, the 21st, in the 36th Criminal Court of the Capital , signed by judge Tiago Fernandes de Barros .

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In total, 11 people were charged by the Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor's Office in connection with the case. Two of them ( former base director Carlos Noval and engineer Luiz Felipe Pondé ) had their charges dismissed by the Rio de Janeiro courts in 2021. In the same ruling, monitor Marcus Vinícius Medeiros was acquitted of the charge. The judge noted in Tuesday's ruling that there was no evidence of criminal guilt and said it was impossible to establish cause and effect between the defendants' individual conduct and the incident.

Fernandes de Barros also says there is insufficient evidence to support a conviction . He points out that none of the defendants had direct responsibilities regarding the maintenance or electrical safety of the modules housing the boys.

Former Flamengo president Eduardo Bandeira de Mello had been removed from the defendants' list since February of this year. Fernandes de Barros had complied with a request from the Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor's Office to remove his name from the case, on the understanding that the statute of limitations had expired for the director. The reason was that he was over 70 (now 72, at the time of the decision, 71) and could no longer be punished. The other seven were still facing charges of arson (committed 10 times) and bodily harm (three times) .

Defendants in the 2019 Ninho do Urubu fire

Antonio Marcio Mongelli Garotti

Claudia Eira Rodrigues

Danilo da Silva Duarte

Fabio Hilario da Silva

Weslley Gimenes

Edson Colman da Silva

Eduardo Bandeira de Mello (retired in February due to age)

Marcelo Maia de Sá

The penalty for causing a fire, according to Article 250 of the Penal Code, ranges from three to six years' imprisonment and a fine. If the fire results in death, the penalty is increased by one-third. The number of times the crime was committed is also multiplied. Other lawsuits related to the case are still pending. In July, Flamengo was ordered in the first instance by the Rio de Janeiro Labor Court to pay damages to Benedito Ferreira, the club's former security guard who helped rescue the victims.

According to the ruling, the club was ordered to pay R$100,000 in moral damages and R$500,000 in material damages, totaling R$600,000 . The judge also ordered a lifetime pension, limited to Benedito's 78th birthday. The employee decided to take the case to court after developing a severe and incapacitating psychiatric illness .