STF will analyze Bolsonaro's appeal over a fine of R$90,000 in campaign

O STF (Supreme Federal Court) will analyze an appeal by former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) about fine of R$90,000 for irregular advertising against the current head of the Executive, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), during the 2022 presidential campaign.

The sanction, applied to Bolsonaro's campaign by TSE (Superior Electoral Court) at the end of 2022, refers to a video in which there is an insinuation that Lula was in favor of abortion.

The PT member’s defense filed a lawsuit stating that Bolsonaro’s campaign promoted content with false information, “against life, family and the Christian religion”. The argument of an irregular electoral campaign was accepted by the Electoral Court in the trial.

However, Bolsonaro's defense appealed the decision, in August 2023, requesting that the case be analyzed by the STF. In the appeal, he argues that the fine promotes “unmotivated silencing of an ideological current” and causes damage to freedom of information and expression. Here's the complete of the document (PDF – 357 kB).

The lawyers also declare that there is no negative content in the advertisement, since “any kind, explicit or implicit, of individualized offense or criticism towards any of the candidates in the electoral contest is found”.

At the time, the minister Alexandre de Moraes, then president of the TSE, denied forwarding the appeal to the Supreme Court due to a lack of necessary requirements. After a new attempt by Bolsonaro's defense, the Electoral Court referred the case to the STF on January 11.

The process is now under analysis by the minister André Mendonça, nominated by Bolsonaro to the Court. Initially, the analysis had been distributed to the minister Cristiano Zanin, who declared himself prevented. His wife Valeska Zanin Martins defended Lula's campaign alongside Angelo Longo Ferraro, a lawyer accompanying the president in the case.