You can learn about the judicial system in Brazil from public sources, but also about reality in police stations, courts and prisons. Then it immediately becomes clear that there are good reasons to defend against extradition to Brazil with all legal means and with hands and feet.

According to Human Rights Watch, torture methods are widespread in police stations and prisons in Brazil. According to Human Rights Watch, in recent years security forces and prison guards have committed at least 64 known attacks on prisoners and more than 150 police officers and prison officers are currently being accused. The first 24 hours in police custody are said to be particularly dangerous. Those affected would often have to wait three months or longer before they would even be brought before a judge.

no extradition treaty between Germany and Brazil

 There is no extradition treaty between Germany and Brazil. Under German extradition law, however, extradition to Brazil is possible on a non-contractual basis and extradition for fiscal offences alone is not excluded from the outset. I am aware of a case of extradition of a Nigerian man from Germany to Brazil years ago and a request for extradition still pending in Frankfurt / Germany.

Requests for provisional extradition custody can be made by Brazil via Interpol, i.e. a foreigner can be taken into provisional extradition custody in Germany solely on the basis of the Interpol search issued by Brazil.

I have dealt with two extradition requests from Brazil in my practice so far. In one case, an international arrest warrant from Brazil was misused to force a persecuted person to make certain business concessions. However, this was already recognised here during the proceedings by the Public Prosecutor. Abusive arrest warrants and Interpol red notice must be seen against the background that corruption is flourishing in Brazil and that corrupt authorities and civil servants sometimes want to enforce their own financial goals with the help of international investigation. The arrest warrant can also be used as an instrument to boot out a business opponent and expel him from Brazil.

The conditions in Brazilian prisons are making headlines. The prison uprisings and revolts of recent years showed the inhuman situation, the state has long since surrendered and often left the terrain to criminal gangs within the prisons (cf. derstandard.at).