New investigation into Wallace case under debate: ‘It would be fair to have the other side of the story’

Eduardo Figueiredo and Bruno Pacheco – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – In an exclusive interview for the radio and TV show “Boa Noite Amazônia”, on Thursday night, Willace Souza, son of former state representative Wallace Souza, spoke for the first time about a possible investigation to investigate the other side of the story regarding the “Wallace case”.

“We have always beaten on this point that there is a guilty party for all this persecution. Although we can not prove it, because I leave this in the hands of Justice, if it comes to that. But it would be important, because I have always had this mission to prove my father’s innocence”, revealed Willace.

For Willace, the series “Killer Ratings”, produced by the streaming platform Netflix, contributed to change the public’s view and from then on it also served so that the family could seek justice.

“From the moment that public opinion became aware of our version and the magistrates felt more secure to do something with more tranquility, without that pressure and interference that they could have, but anyway, the documentary contributed a lot so that we could seek innocence and seek to give our version. So this is basically what gave us this tranquility”, said the presenter.

The series counts with the participation of the CEO of CENARIUM MAGAZINE, broadcaster and journalist Paula Litaiff, whose coverage of the Wallace case made her one of the main contributors to the documentary. The meeting between the host of the program “Boa Noite Amazônia” and the son of the former lawmaker was the first in which both were face to face for an interview.

For Willace Souza, talking about the case is still difficult, but today he affirms that maturity helped him to face the whole imbroglio involving his father. The presenter believes that the former deputy was a victim of a plot within the public security force of Amazonas that, for him, defended only one narrative, without hearing the Souza family’s side.

Willace remembers, however, that the former lawmaker stopped giving interviews to the local press at the time, after reports distorted information about the accusations against him. In the program, the host also lamented that the manauara population only came to know Wallace Souza’s version after the Netflix documentary.

“There needed to be a series, by foreign producers, so that people could know our side. Why didn’t people know if the press was covering all this time? In fact, every day I had a new story against my father. Why did people only come to know our side of the story now? This should make the press think, because this really was a massacre against our family,” lamented Willace Souza.

Depression

On the show “Boa Noite Amazônia”, Willace Souza talked about the health condition of his uncle Carlos Souza, who was part of the team of presenters that went viral in the Amazon in the 1990s: the “Canal Livre”. Together with brothers Wallace and Fausto, they formed the trio “Irmãos Coragem” (Courage Brothers). According to Willace, Carlos is going through severe depression and that the family is struggling to treat him.

“Carlos Souza is still suffering from all the bad things they did to our family. They finished with Carlos Souza. And today, what can we do? We have already taken him to a psychologist, to the best psychiatrist. He was exonerated and, even so, depression is such a strong disease that he can’t be cured. We don’t know what happens. I, as a nephew, can no longer stand to see my uncle like this,” lamented Willace.

Persecution

This week, Willace revealed on his show that his father was persecuted by “a cowardly person who acts in the shadows.” The account occurred after the son of the former state lawmaker was forced by Justice to grant a right of reply to the senator of Amazonas Eduardo Braga (MDB)

“My father was very persecuted by a person, in this state, by a coward. Who did this to him, Wallace Souza, is a coward, who does not show his face, acts in the shadows, acts in the dark. He doesn’t have the courage to hit him in the face, to confront him. He uses tricks to persecute, to do evil things to people”, the host of “Sinal Livre” vented, during the show on Wednesday, 23.

In the occasion, the communicator also read a letter written by his father while he was in bed in the Beneficente Portuguesa hospital in São Paulo.

Read also: After right of reply to Braga, son of Wallace Souza reveals letter from father: ‘coward who acts in the shadows’

Acquitted

In July 2021, the “Courage Brothers” – as they were known – Carlos and Fausto Souza were acquitted by the first Criminal Chamber of the Court of Justice of the State of Amazonas (TJAM), for the crime of association for drug trafficking. The decision was made due to lack of evidence to convict.

The accusation against Carlos and Fausto was filed in the 1st Degree, in 2009, after statements from police officer Moacir Jorge Pessoa da Costa, which gave rise to the known ‘Moa Case’ or ‘Wallace Case’, and relied on evidence borrowed from “Operation Centurion” and another lawsuit. In this 2nd Degree process, however, the judge says there is no robust evidence that the accused joined together in a stable way and with a division of tasks for trafficking.