09/02/2024 – 21:54
The president of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), Beto Simonetti, stated in a statement that he was not approached by former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to participate in an attempted coup in the country in 2022. The former head of the The federal Executive Branch suggested in a meeting with ministers that its allies seek the support of the OAB for a document that would claim it was impossible to certify the “fairness of the elections”
Bolsonaro's idea was to count on the help of the OAB to join forces against the electronic voting machine. “Former president Jair Bolsonaro and his interlocutors never approached the OAB to ask for support for unfounded criticisms against the electoral system. If someone asked for support from the OAB for this issue, they would receive a no answer”, guaranteed Simonetti.
The statement was made on the same day that the OAB filed a request with the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to guarantee communication between lawyers in Operation Tempus Veritatis, launched by the Federal Police (PF) on Thursday, 8. In the order that authorized the search and seizure warrants, STF minister Alexandre de Moraes ordered the targets of the investigation to be prohibited from “maintaining contact with the other people being investigated, including through lawyers”.
“In the same petition, we reiterate the OAB’s confidence in the electoral system and electronic voting machines. We also remember all the concrete actions taken by the Order to reject the unfounded accusations made against the electoral system and to defend the Electoral Justice”, says another excerpt from Simonetti’s note.
The president of the highest association of lawyers also said that the Order maintains a “technical-legal” position and not a “political-partisan” one. “The OAB does not take sides in party political disputes and maintains a technical-legal position. The current management of the Order has as a priority working on day-to-day legal issues, such as the prerogatives of the profession. For not taking sides in the ideological and partisan dispute, the OAB receives criticism from sectors of different ideological lines that try to obtain support from the entity for their different demands”, he concluded.
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