The new law, enacted by the Brazilian Leader of State, during the inauguration ceremony of the new Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, also includes "collective racial insult" as a crime, which can double the sentences of the people involved, according to news to Lusa.
With the law, those responsible for insulting the honor of a person due to their race, color, ethnicity, religion or origin will be included in the offense of racial insult, with a penalty that increases from one to three years to between two and five years. from prison.
According to the same source, the crime is not subject to the statute of limitations. The penalty for racial insult, now defined in the Brazilian Penal Code as racism, can be doubled when the offense is committed by two or more people and also applies to cases that occur at football matches, sports, cultural or religious events. For racial insults in football matches, the law also stipulates that those responsible can be banned from stadiums for up to three years.
National Candomblé Day
In turn, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sanctioned Law 14,519/2023, which institutes the National Day of Traditions of the Roots of African Motherlands and Nations of Candomblé, to be celebrated annually on March 21st. Until the 1960s, Candomblé practitioners were concentrated mainly in the states of Bahia and Pernambuco.
It is estimated that three million Brazilians practice the religion. In the city of Salvador alone, there are approximately 2,230 registered terreiros. Candomblé emerged in Nigeria, and accompanied the countless waves of slaves that landed on Brazilian soil in the 16th century.
Prohibited and discriminated against for centuries, with its practitioners having suffered imprisonment and persecution, the religion made use of syncretism as a form of legitimation, associating the orixás with Catholic saints.
