By 4 votes to 2, governor of Rio de Janeiro is acquitted in the TRE-RJ of the accusation of abuse of political and economic power during the 2022 electoral process
O TRE-RJ (Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro) formed a majority this Thursday (May 23, 2024) to maintain the mandate of the governor of Rio de Janeiro Claudio Castro (PL), accused of abuse of political and economic power and other irregularities.
The court formed a majority to also acquit the lieutenant governor, Thiago Pampolha (MDB)and the president of Alerj (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro), state deputy Rodrigo Bacellar (PL).
By 4 votes to 2, the majority of judges understood that there was no abuse of political economic power and irregularities that would support an electoral conviction in relation to the payrolls of the Ceperj Foundation (the State Center for Statistics, Research and Training of Public Servants of Rio de Janeiro) and Uerj (State University of Rio de Janeiro) in 2022.
Considering the signs of irregularities in the hiring carried out at Ceperj and Uerj, Granado, Carnevale and Junqueira accompanied the rapporteur in order to report to the MPE (Public Electoral Ministry) of Rio de Janeiro to determine possible criminal responsibility of those involved. This decision was disagreed by Daniela Bandeira.
The votes for Castro’s acquittal followed the divergence of Marcello Granado, who asked for a view (more time for analysis) in the plenary session on Friday (May 17), suspending the judgment. The president of the Court, Henrique Carlos de Andrade Figueira, still needs to vote.
Here is the score:
- 4 votes for acquittal: Marcello Granado, Gerardo Carnevale, Fernando Cabral and Kátia Junqueira.
- 2 votes for conviction: Peterson Simões and Daniela Bandeira.
Arguments from Divergence
Judge Marcello Granado disagreed with the rapporteur because he considered “fragile” the body of evidence to accept requests for revocation of mandate, 8-year ineligibility and fines challenged against those investigated.
The prosecution’s request argued for the supposed advantage received by candidates in the 2022 elections with the use of the public machine within the scope of Ceperj and Uerj -abundant hiring of civil servants in the election year and lack of transparency in payments-.
For Granado, the signings “apparently irregular” do not have an automatic impact on the fairness and balance of the electoral process. Fernando Cabral, who followed the divergence, argued that it would be necessary to prove the influence of the acts on the balance of the claim with evidence “robust” to constitute abuse of political and economic power.
The State’s Regional Electoral Attorney’s Office argued in the action that documents and witnesses prove the electoral use of the public machine and of temporary employees such as electoral canvassers for Castro’s ticket and politicians from the government’s allied base. The divergence reflected this Thursday, however, that the statements raised more doubts than clarity to the facts.
Furthermore, they argued that the journalistic reports gathered by the MP (Public Ministry) and attached to the files, “are not generally and individually accepted as evidence in legal proceedings”.
Judge Marcello Granado also considered the very serious consequence of the case (loss of mandate and ineligibility) and the disparity in votes among candidates for the election in 2022. He reiterated the “sovereignty of the vote” in Castro’s election, as he obtained 58.67% of the votes, in contrast to 2nd place Marcelo Freixo (PT), with 27.38% of the votes.
DEFENSE
In a note, the governor’s defense informed that he has provided all clarifications to the control bodies. After the complaints, Cláudio Castro ordered the extinction of the Ceperj Foundation projects, which are being restructured. According to the defense, the governor’s name is not mentioned in any of the statements. “Cláudio Castro’s defense trusts the Electoral Court and states that no new elements were presented in the case records to support the allegations”reads the note.
The president of Alerj, Rodrigo Bacellar, declared that “the MP was guided by journalistic articles and no evidence was produced that he committed irregularities”.
OTHER INVESTIGATED
The rapporteur rectified his vote this Friday (May 23) in relation to the former Undersecretary of Housing of the State Secretariat of Infrastructure Allan Borges Nogueira.
Previously, he asked Nogueira to be ineligible and fined. However, Peterson withdrew the conviction. He followed judge Daniela Bandeira’s understanding that Nogueira was hierarchically subordinate to the Secretary of Infrastructure and Works and not “enjoyed decision-making autonomy”.
The Court also judges 8 other investigated (read below who they are)are they:
- the state deputy Leo Vieira (PL-RJ);
- the federal deputy Aureo Ribeiro (Solidarity-RJ);
- the federal deputy Max Lemos (PDT-RJ);
- the secretary of the state government of Rio de Janeiro Bernardo Rossi;
- the state secretary of Culture and Creative Economy Dani Barros;
- the substitutes for federal deputy Gutemberg de Paula Fonseca and Marcos Venissius da Silva Barbosa; and the
- former state secretary of Labor and Income Patrique Welber Atela de Faria.
This report was written by journalism intern Bruna Aragão under the supervision of assistant editor Isadora Albernaz.
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Jorde Sicher