Accused of International Trafficking, Paleontologist Wants US$ 420,000 from Brazilian Government

12/23/2013 - 09h30

One of Brazil's major paleontologists is about to face in court the federal agency that is responsible for the country's fossils.

Alexander Kellner, of UFRJ's (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) Museu Nacional, is asking the DNPM (National Department of Mineral Production) for US$ 420,000 (R$1 million) as compensation on the grounds of pain and suffering, after he was charged and arrested for international fossil trafficking in 2012.

He says he was a victim of a scheme to damage his professional reputation.

"It's not easy to take the DNPM to court - that's where I began my career. But it's time they stopped treating scientists as criminals," he says.

The DNPM, which is connected to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, is responsible for looking after Brazil's fossil heritage.

The suit against Kellner is still at the beginning, but the Federal Justice and the Public Prosecutor's Office have already stated that Kellner's arrest involved several mistakes by the DNPM. They didn`t mention, however, a possible conspiracy.

The arrest at the Juazeiro do Norte airport in Ceara in May 2012, while Kellner, who was accompanied by French researcher Romain Amiot and two students, were approached by the Federal Police, which had received an anonymous tip that the group intended to sell Brazilian fossils abroad, which is a crime.

He was summoned to a police precinct to give explanations and the head of the DNPM in the Crato region, José Artur de Andrade, told the police that the situation of the excavation and fossil transportation was irregular.

Andrade also said that the French scientist had not been authorized by the DNPM and couldn't work in the region.

Kellner and Amiot were arrested red-handed and spent the night in jail. They were released after researchers "chipped in" to pay bail.

"It was humiliating. Who called and tipped the police?" he asks. Courts dropped proceedings shortly after that, stating that the DNPM employees had acted with "professional misconduct" and "excessive power" and demands outside the agency's responsibility.

"The misconduct of the head of the DNPM office [Artur Azevedo] was decisive to the arrest of the two researchers. Although it is not responsible for inspecting the professors' research, it was crucial as it told authorities that their situation was irregular," said judge José Eduardo de Melo Vilar Filho.

The Public Prosecutor of Ceara, Rafael Rayol, said researchers connected to universities and research centers don't need to be authorized by the DNPM - they only need to inform the agency of their activities.

"If he were a foreign researcher without a link here, he would need one. But Amiot's researcher is connected to the URCA (Regional University of Cariri) and the UFRJ, and financed by the CNPq (National Council of Scientific and Technologic Development). That exempted him."

Folha repeatedly tried to contact the DNPM, but it said that it will not comment on the trial or Kellner's statements because the trail is still in court.

Kellner says he has been ignored by the DNPM. "I wanted an explanation, anything that might show that they understand how serious it was."

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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	Zô Guimaraes/Folhapress
	Alexander Kellner, one of Brazil's major paleontologists