06/29/2024 – 7:45
Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), stated this Friday, 28, that it will be up to the Judiciary, and more specifically the Court, to give the last word if a proposal for amnesty for those investigated, accused succeeds in Congress. , convicted and imprisoned for involvement in the coup acts on January 8 last year.
At the beginning of this month, the president of the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Chamber, Caroline de Toni (PL-SC), appointed her colleague Rodrigo Valadares (União Brasil-SE) as rapporteur of a bill that grants amnesty to implicated in the depredation of the headquarters of Power in Brasília. The two parliamentarians are allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
The former president is being investigated in one of the inquiries into the coup plots. The amnesty is supported by Bolsonaro’s allies in Congress and has been mentioned behind the scenes in Parliament as a bargaining chip for the support of the Bolsonaro camp in the elections for the presidencies of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in 2025.
Constitution
“The Federal Constitution is the one that allows amnesty or not, and the Supreme Federal Court is the one that interprets the Constitution,” said Moraes during the Lisbon Legal Forum, an event promoted by the higher education institution of Minister Gilmar Mendes. “The Supreme Federal Court will guarantee that all those guilty of the January 8th crime are held accountable,” the minister assured in his speech.
Bolsonaro raised the idea of amnesty on January 8th during an event on Avenida Paulista that brought together thousands of people on February 25th. The demonstration was called by the former president himself after he was appointed by the Federal Police (PF) as the mentor of a coup plot to remain in power after being defeated in the 2022 presidential election. During the event in São Paulo, the former president He asked for amnesty “for those poor people arrested in Brasília” who were the target of the investigation.
About a month later, a Datafolha survey reported that the possibility of amnesty for those responsible for the coup attacks on the headquarters of the three Powers, on January 8, 2023, was rejected by 63% of those interviewed. Like Bolsonaro, 31% of those interviewed in the survey spoke in favor of forgiveness, while 2% said they were indifferent and 4% had no opinion on the matter. The survey took place between March 19th and 20th with 2,002 respondents.
“The Supreme Federal Court is a century-old institution. Obviously, when democracy is most attacked and the Constitution is most attacked, the Supreme Federal Court has the mission to defend it and that is what it did,” said Moraes during his speech at the event in Lisbon.
Messages
Target of questions about possible conflicts of interest involving parties and the Supreme Court’s judgment agenda (more information on the opposite page), the forum held in the Portuguese capital served for participating ministers to send messages to Congress and the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In addition to the issue of amnesty for those involved in the 8th of January, another issue that came to the fore among the ministers was the STF’s decision to decriminalize possession of marijuana.
The president of the Supreme Court, Luís Roberto Barroso, stated this Thursday, 27th, that the Court fulfilled its role in deciding on decriminalization and that President Lula has “freedom of expression” to disagree with the decision.
Lula said on Wednesday, the 26th, that the Supreme Court does not have to “interfere in everything” and that decisions like this week’s on marijuana generate “rivalry” with other branches of government. According to Lula, the Supreme Court cannot “take on anything” to judge.
“I am not a censor of what the president says and even less an inspector of the hall. What I can say is that the Supreme Court judges the actions that reach the plenary, including habeas corpus and extraordinary appeals from people who are arrested with small amounts of drugs”, said Barroso when asked about Lula’s statements.
‘Conflagration’
Justice Flávio Dino also responded to the criticisms made by the President of the Republic regarding the Court’s decision. The judge argued that the court is urged to decide on controversial issues because of the social “conflagration.” Dino argued that issues of conflict in Brazilian society have been brought to the Judiciary, which obliges judges to act.
“When conflicting situations walk through that square (of the Three Powers) and do not find another door, they find the Supreme Court building more beautiful, the ramp is smaller, and they enter there. Once there, we (ministers) cannot throw the problems into the sea or Lake Paranoá, and we cannot prevaricate”, stated Dino.
“That is why the Supreme Federal Court ‘gets involved in a lot of things’. We are involved in a lot of things precisely in the face of this conflagration that marks Brazilian society”, added the minister, who was the head of Justice at the beginning of Lula’s third term as President of the Republic.
The minister’s position is in line with that of other members of the Court. Dias Toffoli stated the day before yesterday that “if everything ends up in the Judiciary, it means that the other decision-making bodies will fail.”
The information is from the newspaper The State of S. Paulo.
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