Rio Grande do Norte Police Indict Three Over Transphobic Abuse of Natal Councilor Thabatta Pimenta

Overview

• Civil Police concluded the inquiry and forwarded the report to the Rio Grande do Norte Public Prosecutor’s Office on Friday.
• The insults occurred in May during a Natal city council session that voted on granting Jair Bolsonaro honorary citizenship, with hecklers targeting Pimenta as she spoke.
• Two women and one man were indicted under Articles 2-A and 20 of Law 7,716/1989, which covers identity-based discrimination, with penalties of two to five years in prison that can be doubled when committed by multiple people.
• Investigators cited video records, witness testimony, and a forensic voice match tying one suspect to the recorded slurs as proof the abuse targeted her gender identity.
• Police say they are still examining the conduct of then-chamber president Eriko Jácome during the session, and Pimenta welcomed the indictments as a necessary affirmation of rights.