Sebastião Coelho defended the arrest of minister Alexandre de Moraes and the closure of the STF on the eve of the acts
The CNJ (National Council of Justice) initiated this Wednesday (September 13, 2023) a disciplinary complaint process against retired judge Sebastião Coelho da Silva. He is the lawyer for Aécio Lúcio Costa Pereira, one of the defendants being tried in the STF for the extremist acts of January 8th.
The National Council of Justice considers that Coelho made statements “of a coup nature against democratic institutions, which may constitute the crime of inciting animosity of the Armed Forces against constitutional powers”. Read the full document (PDF of complete – 93 kB).
The National Inspector of Justice, Luis Felipe Salomão, cites 3 episodes:
- August 2022 – in the 1st episode, Coelho criticized Alexandre de Moraes in the 13th plenary session of the TJDFT (Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories). He said that the minister made a “declaration of war on the country” upon inauguration as president of the TSE and that this would have encouraged him to bring forward his retirement;
- November 2022 – the 2nd and 3rd episodes took place in the post-election period and are recorded on video. He spoke twice at the Army Headquarters, in Brasília. He requested, on both occasions, the arrest of Moraes and the intervention of the Armed Forces.
The CNJ inspector also ordered that the former judge’s financial records be examined and requested that his banking secrecy be broken. He considers that Coelho may have financed the extremist acts by actively participating in the concentrations that preceded January 8th.
“The conduct [de Sebastião Coelho]although divided into several acts, must be considered as unique, begun when he was still a judge and continued subsequently by episodes that added meaning to his previous speeches, always towards the erosion of the Democratic Rule of Law and incitement of the masses against the legitimately constituted powers”appears in the disciplinary administrative process.
Coelho has 15 days to present a defense.
During this Wednesday’s trial at the STF, the judge criticized the CNJ and claimed to be a victim of intimidation. “I have nothing to hide and I’m not intimidated by absolutely anything. I’m elderly and I could die at any moment.”he declared.
Watch the moment Sebastião criticizes the CNJ (1min54s):
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