In celebration of International Women's Day, celebrated this Wednesday (March 8th), librarian Silvânia Olortegui, from the Superior School of the Judges of the State of Tocantins (ESMAT), delivered 120 books to the Prison Unit of Women of the city of Palmas.
The books were collected during the "Donate Books - Reading Liberates" campaign. Aimed at filling in idle time and expanding knowledge, the books will also contribute to the remission of the sentences of the inmates. According to Lilian de Cassia Moreira, the director of the Unit, the project to redeem time by reading is of immense importance to the inmates.
"Of all the projects we develop here at the unit, this is the one that reaches 100% of our inmates. With the remission for reading through the project Reading to Free, from the Secretary of Citizenship and Justice (SECIJU), we develop several actions, the reading circle is an example. So, the public is 100%! All of our inmates today participate in the project and read a lot, both to remit and for free reading. We thank you for this action and project. Our library doesn't have that many books, and this donation came at a great moment," she said.
Responsible, in the Unit, for the remission project are the Chief Criminal Police Officer, Simara Patrícia; the pedagogue and analyst agent in penal execution, Aldeny Araujo de Abreu; and the professor of Ulbra, Andreia Cardinali.
It is important to emphasize that the rescue of educational practices, recognizing reading as a form of social restoration is one of the steps that can contribute to the reduction of idleness, preventing criminal recidivism and providing the detainee with the possibility of social reintegration and the aggregation of ethical and moral values.
About the remission of sentence
Resulting from Resolution number 391, of May 10th, 2021, by recommendation of the National Justice Council (CNJ), the project, created from SECIJU/TO Directive number 709, of September 2nd, 2021, published in the State Official Gazette number 5924, which regulates the remission of punishment by reading, says that the registration must occur voluntarily, and, according to the Directive, the participants will have the right to the remission of four days of the sentence per book read, having a limit of 12 works per year. This way, the prisoner has the possibility to remit up to 48 days of the sentence every twelve months.
At the end of the reading of each work, the participant must prepare a summary or other document, including drawings or an oral presentation for those who are not literate and who are also entitled to participate in the Project. This document will serve as a proof that the reading was done, which will be evaluated by the Commission for Validation of Remission of Part of the Sentence by Reading. The evaluation will be qualitative, taking into consideration the interest and dedication of the participant.
