The Eloá Pimentel hostage crisis, as it is known, refers to the October 2008 incident involving 15-year-old Brazilian girl Eloá Cristina Pimentel, who was kidnapped, taken against her will and held hostage before being murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Lindemberg Alves. Additionally, Pimentel’s friend, Nayara da Silva, was shot by Alves. The tragedy received major media exposure, not only because of the murder, but also because of blatant mistakes made by the São Paulo police. Eloá Pimentel was held as a hostage for 100 hours – the longest kidnapping ever registered in the State of São Paulo.^[1] The trial of Alves commenced on 13 February 2012, exactly three years and four months after the crime.

The kidnapping

On 13 October 2008, Eloá Pimentel, Nayara da Silva and two male friends were working on a school project when Pimentel's 22-year-old ex-boyfriend, Lindemberg Fernandes Alves, broke into her apartment in Santo André, São Paulo, holding a pistol. He soon released the two boys but held Pimentel and da Silva. The Grupo de Ações Táticas Especiais (Special Tactical Actions Group, or GATE) closely followed the situation. On 16 October, da Silva was eventually released by Alves, but she offered to return to the apartment to try to negotiate with the kidnapper. After she entered the apartment, she was held hostage again. Hours later, after hearing gunshots, the GATE decided to storm the apartment. They eventually stopped and immobilized Alves, but not before he shot Pimentel twice and da Silva once.^[2] Pimentel was taken to the hospital, where she was declared brain dead and taken off life support on 18 October, at 23:30 BRT (2:30 GMT on 19 October), thirty minutes before the beginning of BRST.^[3]

Aftermath

Pimentel's body was buried in Jardim Santo André cemetery, Santo André, in a ceremony attended by ten thousand people.^[4] Her heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys and cornea were donated to the benefit of seven people.^[5] It was later discovered that her father, Everaldo Pereira dos Santos, was a suspect in the murder of two people in the state of Alagoas.^[6] Dos Santos fled during the incident but was captured in Maceió on December 28, 2009.^[7]

Alves' trial lasted for four days in February 2012. He was found guilty on twelve counts and sentenced to 98 years and ten months of imprisonment. Brazilian law, however, limits the penalty time to thirty years.^[8]

Controversy

The tragedy was widely discussed because of the mistakes committed by São Paulo police, especially the fact that they allowed da Silva to return to the apartment. Marcos do Val, a Brazilian SWAT instructor, also pointed out other mistakes such as allowing the kidnapping to last for so many days, not shooting Alves with a sniper, taking too long to storm the apartment after breaching the door and not using the back door or the windows.^[9]

The Brazilian media was heavily criticized following the outcome of the case. Former BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion) member and sociologist Rodrigo Pimentel, in an interview with the Terra portal, condemned the Brazilian media's coverage, arguing that the TV stations RedeTV!, Rede Record, and Rede Globo were "irresponsible and criminal", and declared that the "Public Prosecutor's Office of São Paulo should hold these TV stations to account".^[10]

On 15 October 2008,^[11] RedeTV! journalist Sônia Abrão interviewed Alves and Pimental live by telephone, interfering with the hostage negotiations.^[12][13] Abrão's show, A Tarde É Sua, which had a daily average of 2 points on IBOPE, peaked at 5 points during the interview. According to sociologist and journalist Laurindo Leal Filho, who presented the program Ver TV on TV Câmara about ethics on television, the interference of a broadcaster in a case like this, besides being dangerous, is unconstitutional.^[14] The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) decided to file a public civil action against the presenter for airing the interview. The MP stated that the interviews interfered with ongoing police activity and put the lives of the teenager and those involved in the operation at risk, and asked for a compensation of 1.5 million reais for collective moral damage.^[15]

In popular culture

In 2016, an episode of the true crime documentary television series Investigação Criminal was released about the case.

The "Eloá Case" was portrayed in TV Globo's Linha Direta program on 4 May 2023.^[16]

References

External links

• Eloá Pimentel hostage crisis at Google News