Denise Frossard
Encyclopedia
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. She has been a law professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation. When she retired she started working for Transparency International
Transparency International
Transparency International is a non-governmental organization that monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption in international development. It publishes an annual Corruption Perceptions Index, a comparative listing of corruption worldwide...
.
She was the trial judge who on May 14, 1993, convicted 14 notorious racketeers who control the lucrative Jogo do Bicho
Jogo do Bicho
Jogo do Bicho is an illegal gambling game in Brazil, prohibited by federal law since 1946. Very popular throughout the country, the "game" is actually a lottery-type drawing operated on a regional basis by mobsters known as contraventores , bicheiros or banqueiros...
(the “animal game” – an illegal but popular numbers gamble) in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. The so-called bicheiros were a notorious source of corruption of police officers, politicians, part of the media and even social organisations such as the samba school
Samba school
A samba school is a club or dancing school. They practice and often perform in huge square-compounds devoted to practicing and exhibiting samba, an African-Brazilian dance. The schools are traditionally associated with a particular neighborhood, often shanty towns...
s, that organise Rio’s world-famous Carnival
Rio Carnival
The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is a world famous festival held before Lent every year and considered the biggest carnival in the world with two million people per day on the streets. The first festivals of Rio date back to 1723.-Samba schools:...
parades, a huge source of tourist income to both the city and the state). Frossard sentenced them to six years' imprisonment. The sentence recognized the existence of a mafia-type organization in Brazil for the first time. Editorial pages of Brazilian newspapers praised Frossard’s courage to take on the illegal lottery bosses.
"The animal game is a deeply embedded cultural phenomenon with a certain romantic aura, and thus hard to eradicate," according to Frossard. "But it is also a quintessentially Brazilian way of laundering money and contributes greatly to the problem of impunity in this country." Judge Frossard was subjected to pressures from both the political establishment and the Judiciary itself and her life has been threatened. She has been the target of assassination attempts that she attributes to hired guns in the pay of game kingpins. A former military policeman allegedly received an offer of US$270,000 (R$1 million) to kill Frossard, but was arrested before he could commit the murder.
After the judgment in 1993, she spent a year in the United States, returning to head the Brazilian branches of Transparency International
Transparency International
Transparency International is a non-governmental organization that monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption in international development. It publishes an annual Corruption Perceptions Index, a comparative listing of corruption worldwide...
and the Women’s Bank.
In 2002, she was elected as federal representative for the Socialist People's Party
Socialist People's Party (Brazil)
The Socialist People's Party is a political party in Brazil.It was founded in 1992, after the Brazilian Communist Party decided to rename itself the Socialist People's Party as part of a political realignment following the collapse of the Soviet Union.The PPS was a part of the coalition government...
(Partido Popular Socialista, PPS) to the Brazilian Congress. She won the election in the State of Rio de Janeiro with a landslide, winning more votes in that election than any of her colleagues. Her term ended in 2006, after which she ran for governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro. With 32% of the valid votes, she lost in the run-off
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
from Sérgio Cabral Filho
Sérgio Cabral Filho
Sérgio de Oliveira Cabral Santos Filho , is a Brazilian politician and journalist.In the 2006 Brazilian general elections, he was elected governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro; he was sworn into office on January 1, 2007....
, the candidate for the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro, PMDB), who won 68% of the votes.
In 2005 she received the Medalha Tiradentes by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro, for relevant services offered to the State of Rio de Janeiro.