More than training and improving magistrates and civil servers, the Superior School of the Judges of the State of Tocantins (Esmat) also fulfills a social mission: to promote access to knowledge as an instrument of transformation. For this purpose, it annually carries out two book donation campaigns - one aimed at indigenous and quilombola communities, and another directed to the prison system.
In this second semester, the 2025 edition of the campaign on "Ler Liberta" (Read Frees), aimed at collecting books of Brazilian and/ or foreign literature for the Regional Penal Unit of the district of Guaraí, which currently houses more than 180 re-education students. The initiative reinforces the encouragement to the reading as a tool for social reintegration and opportunity for remission of sentence, as provided for in the Brazilian criminal law. The action takes place until November 13th, with collection points in the cities of Palmas and Guaraí:
- Esmat Library
- Entrance hall of the Court of Justice of the State of Tocantins
- General Internal Affairs of Justice
- Forum of the district of Guaraí
- Regional Penal Unit of the district of Guaraí
Books may be new or used, provided they are in good condition, and they must belong to literary genres such as romance, short story, chronicle, novel, theater, poetry, cordel, as well as self-help works and religion.
The librarian of Esmat and coordinator of the campaign, Silvânia Olortegui, was in the district of Guaraí on Monday (October 13th) to hold the official opening. On the occasion, she was received by the director of the prison unit, Adriano Almeida, and at the Forum, by the secretary of the Court, Ana Carulini Barbosa e Silva.
Remission of sentence by reading
The campaign is in line with the Joint Ordinance no 9, of 2025, signed by the Secretariat of Citizenship and Justice (Seciju) and the Judiciary of the state of Tocantins. The rule standardizes the procedures for remission of sentence for educational, school and non-school social activities in all state prisons.
In the case of remittance by reading, participation is voluntary and open. The reeducant must present a report of the work read, which will be evaluated by a Validation Commission, without pedagogical character, focusing on subjective understanding. Each work allows the redemption of 4 days of sentence, with a limit of 12 works per year (that is, up to 48 days of penalty annually redeemed).
The Ordinance also provides for remission by study (face-to-face or distance) and by non-school practices, such as cultural, sports and training actions, provided that they are duly registered and frequently proven. Institutions that wish to offer courses must be accredited at Seciju and obtain judicial approval.
Guarantee of access
Another important point of the Ordinance is the requirement for a diverse and accessible bibliographic collection in prisons, including works in braille, Libras and audiobooks. The objective is to ensure that all people serving a sentence - and in open, semi-open and conditional release regimes - can enjoy the right to read.
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