10/31/2023 – 8:47
The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) will resume, at 7pm this Tuesday, 31st, the trial of two actions and a special representation against former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and his candidate for vice in the 2022 presidential election , General Walter Braga Netto (PL). The score is 2 to 1 for the conviction of the ticket, with four votes needed to form a majority in the Court.
Bolsonaro and Braga Netto are accused of abuse of political power, misuse of the media and prohibited conduct during the celebrations of the Bicentenary of Brazilian Independence that took place in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro on September 7 last year. The actions are filed by the PDT and senator Soraya Thronicke (Podemos-MS).
The trial was suspended on Thursday, 26th, after the votes of the inspector general of the Electoral Justice and rapporteur of the actions, minister Benedito Gonçalves, and ministers Raul Araújo and Floriano de Azevedo Marques.
If Bolsonaro is convicted, he will be able to appeal to the Federal Supreme Court (STF). In June, the former head of the Executive was sentenced to eight years of ineligibility due to a meeting held with ambassadors at Palácio do Alvorada, in July 2022, where he presented alleged unfounded accusations against the Brazilian electoral system.
This Tuesday’s session will resume with the presentation of the votes of four other ministers of the Court. In order, they will present their considerations on the accusations against Bolsonaro and Braga Netto:
– Minister André Ramos Tavares;
– Minister Cármen Lúcia, vice-president of the TSE;
– Minister Kassio Nunes Marques;
– Minister Alexandre de Moraes, president of the Court.
An aggravating factor for the possibility of Bolsonaro’s conviction in these cases is the favorable opinion of the Electoral Attorney General’s Office. Paulo Gonet Branco, deputy prosecutor, issued a joint opinion for the three cases, opining on the ineligibility of the former president and the acquittal of Braga Netto.
Last week, Bolsonaro was tried in another wave of electoral judicial investigation actions that also called for his ineligibility, because of the lives he held inside the Palácio do Planalto and Palácio do Alvorada, which would have been “camouflaged” campaign acts. of government acts. In a unanimous decision, the TSE decided to acquit the former president.
Benedito Gonçalves said that Bolsonaro tried to explore civic celebrations
In his vote, rapporteur Benedito Gonçalves listed a series of behaviors that, in his assessment, show that the former president tried to exploit civic celebrations in the campaign. He argued that Bolsonaro called on voters and supporters to take to the streets on the date and that he organized rallies just meters from official events.
“The militants called for the celebration had the ultimate mission of showing the strength of the candidacy of those being investigated, in a fight between good and evil. (…) There was, unequivocally, a sequence between official and electoral acts”, said Gonçalves.
Gonçalves defended Bolsonaro’s conviction to ineligibility, for a period of eight years, for using the bicentenary of Independence to promote his candidacy. He also suggested imposing a fine worth R$425,000.
A new conviction will not concretely affect Bolsonaro’s political destiny. If he is resentenced to ineligibility, it will be for the same period and the punishments will not be added to 16 years.
In the trial of the meeting with ambassadors that condemned Bolsonaro to ineligibility, Benedito Gonçalves was also the rapporteur. On that occasion, he spared Braga Netto, who maintains his political rights. However, this time, the minister also voted to condemn the general.
The magistrate argued that, due to the position he held in the government, as Minister of Defense, the general was aware of the preparations for September 7th. In the case of Braga Netto, the proposed punishment was lighter: a fine of R$ 212 thousand, without ineligibility.
Raul Araújo voted to acquit the former president
In contrast to Gonçalves, minister Raul Araújo defended the acquittal of Bolsonaro and Braga Netto from the charges. He stated that the events were autonomous and “easily distinguishable”. Araújo argued that electoral legislation does not prohibit campaign activities in public places close to official ceremonies.
“It is public and well-known that the theme involving the values and governing principles of the Armed Forces has always been the theme of Jair Bolsonaro’s campaign, so it is not surprising that the aforementioned person under investigation carried out campaign acts,” he said.
In June, Araújo was one of two TSE ministers who voted to acquit Bolsonaro in the trial that triggered his ineligibility. During the reading of his vote, the minister said that Bolsonaro had “exceeded himself”, but had no intention of delegitimizing the electoral system.
Floriano Marques also wants Braga Netto to be ineligible
The rapporteur was accompanied by minister Floriano de Azevedo Marques, who argued that there was a “purposeful confusion” between the events considered governmental and those of Bolsonaro’s electoral campaign. Marques voted to also make Braga Netto ineligible.
The general is tipped to run as a candidate in the race for Rio de Janeiro City Hall next year, but allies consider that he is already out of the race due to the impacts of the Federal Police (PF) operation for alleged fraud in the allocation of funds during federal intervention in public security in Rio de Janeiro.
“In the pictorial attempt to demarcate the separation, with the burlesque removal of the presidential sash, far from demarcating the separation, it only illustrates that the candidate (Bolsonaro) knew about the entangled context of the two moments and the attempt to force a dividing line that, in practice, it never existed”, he argued. “The rallies were nothing occasional, they were cunningly called and arranged to make use of public events”, added Araújo.
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