26.
In her testimony, given that same day (April 5), Romina Bairo, a friend of Marcelo Gonçalves
Da Luz, declared that:
"a man aged about 30, of average height, dark skin, and completely bald [...] tried to talk to her [...]
When that person had approached her, she noted [illegible] drunk [...].She remembered that he
asked that they take him home, which was in Palermo, but he gave no address, and said he was a
tango dancer but could not devote himself full time to that profession because he had two major
problems, which were drugs and alcohol [...] That she saw that young [illegible] hanging round
the bar and that, when he saw a police patrol car passing by [illegible], he had immediately gone
into the bar, in order [illegible] not to be seen by the police [...] Back in the street, she sees her
friend WAGNER leaning with open hands against the patrol car [...] while the other youth was
being searched by one of the policemen (sic). Then they searched her friend and the police told
him to get into the patrol car and then, seeing that, her other friend and also brother of WAGNER,
MARCELO, rushed over to try and stop the uniformed police from taking away his brother, at
which point he was [illegible] by those policemen and both brothers were arrested along with the
[illegible] bald man. Later, accompanied by her friend Analia MASELLO [...], she went to the police
station [...] and saw an ambulance drive in and that immediately they brought out "the bald guy"
on a stretcher, who she saw "trembling".13
27.
The Commission notes that on April 8, 1996, when she added to her statement, Romina Bairo
clarified that "she had not been molested. That, in reality, he had gone up to her outside the Maluco Beleza club
but had not molested her. [...] That he had a glass of some alcoholic drink in his hand, but he was not shouting
[no girtó (sic)] or excited, until they started pushing him into the patrol car. At that point, he began shouting
and wrestling."14
28.
In her statement given on April 5, 1996, Analía Masello said that when she came out of the
"MALUCO BELEZA" club
she had asked her friend, whom she calls "MARCELO", to help her change a tire on her car.
While Marcelo was doing that, an individual whom she had never seen before came out of the
club [...]. The bald guy asked her to take him to Palermo, which the declarant refused to do
because there was no space in her car. Nevertheless, the stranger insisted that she take him
[...] and she thought he looked as if he was drugged and aggressive [...] From where they had
been sitting in the bar, they saw that individual make his way to the opposite side of the street,
where VAGNER (sic), MARCELO'S brother, [she explains that both are Brazilians] was with a
girl, and began molesting them [...]. Moments later two patrol cars arrived, evidently after
someone had called, and detained VAGNER and the BALD GUY. The bald guy began shouting
"we have got nothing to do with this" [...) at which point the declarant and her friends went up
to the police and told them that VAGNER (sic) had not been the one making the fuss. The police
told them to go away. They saw that when the police searched VAGNER (sic) and saw his
papers, they put him into one of the cars, and the bald guy into the other. At those (sic) point,
MARCELO insisted on telling the police that his brother had nothing to with the matter and
ran towards them. The police arrested MARCELO, too, and a scuffle ensued [...]15
29.
Analía Masello stated that, with Romina Bairo, they had gone to Police Station No. 5 to explain
what had happened and that "by then, it was around 8:30 a.m., while they were waiting, she heard shouts and
noises, as if they were in a madhouse, coming from the back of the police stations, so they went there and saw
the policemen from the patrol cars, and asked them what was going on, to which they had replied that it was
13
Appendix 2. Statement by Romina Bairo on April 5, 1996. Attached to the initial petition.
14
Appendix 3. Statement by Romina Bairo on April 8, 1996. Attached to the initial petition.
Appendix 4. Statement by Analía Masello on April 5, 1996. Attached to the initial petition.
15