Bolsonaristas hold an act in honor of the deceased in Papuda – 11/26/2023 – Power

Hundreds of Bolsonarists take part in a demonstration this Sunday (26) in front of Masp, in São Paulo, to pay homage to Cleriston Pereira da Cunha, a defendant in the January 8 coup attacks who died on the 20th at the Papuda Penitentiary Complex, in the District Federal.

The speeches come from the event organizer’s sound car, parked on the intersection of Avenida Paulista, blocking all lanes.

Protesters criticize President Lula, called a “thief”, and Minister Alexandre de Moraes, president of the TSE and minister rapporteur for cases related to January 8th at the STF (Supreme Federal Court).

Big names in Bolsonarism, such as senator Magno Malta (PL-ES) and pastor Silas Malafaia, participate in the act entitled “In Defense of the Democratic Rule of Law, Human Rights and in Memory of Cleriston Pereira da Cunha”.

Even without being present, former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) is remembered on posters and in the shouts of protesters, who chant “Bolsonaro returns”.

Lawyer Fabio Wajngarten, who headed the Communications Secretariat of the Bolsonaro government and now works for the former president, published a video on X, formerly Twitter, showing the moment in which protesters call for the former president’s return.

Since leaving the Presidency, Bolsonaro has already been convicted twice by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court). Firstly, because of the attacks and lies related to the electoral system. Then due to the electoral use of the 7th of September celebrations last year.

Bolsonaro is ineligible, banned from contesting elections for eight years and is still under investigation by the STF on suspicion of having been the intellectual author of the January 8 coup attacks.

Despite calling on his supporters to go to Paulista this Sunday, the former president stayed away from the demonstration. Throughout the day he recorded his breakfast in Rio de Janeiro on social media and, during the event, he had lunch at a bar in Angra dos Reis (RJ).

If Bolsonaro now calls for a demonstration for human rights, like this Sunday in Paulista, in the past the term was used by him as political rhetoric against opponents.

The former president and his followers associate the human rights agenda with the left and impunity. In contrast, they defend more severe punishments and question the importance of offering basic survival conditions to detainees.

When he was a parliamentarian, Bolsonaro participated in the Human Rights Commission in the Chamber, but with a critical bias. In 1998, he said that the Chamber’s panel defended “the rights of pickpockets and bums.”

Federal deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) was one of the first to speak. After singing “Justice”, the parliamentarian stated that “this death will not be in vain, we will not be intimidated”. In response, protesters shouted “Xandão out”, in reference to Moraes.

The minister and the STF are the main targets in the speeches on Avenida Paulista. Deputy Sóstenes Cavalcante (PL-RJ) was another who targeted the magistrate. “Alexandre de Moraes, your time is coming,” he said from the top of the sound car.

The demonstration lasted around two and a half hours, ending around 4:20 pm, after speeches by senators, deputies, Malafaia and Cleriston’s family.

According to a document from the Criminal Executions Court, Cleriston, 46, died after having “a sudden illness while sunbathing”. He had been denounced for committing crimes such as armed criminal association, violent abolition of the democratic rule of law and coup d’état.

During interrogation on July 31, he stated that he was diagnosed with vasculitis, a disease that caused him to faint and have shortness of breath, and said that he felt ill on the day of the attacks while traveling between the headquarters of the National Congress and the prison, fainting and urinating on your clothes.

Asked about his motivation for participating in the attacks, whether he received financial assistance to participate and whether he damaged something inside the Senate, where he was arrested in the act, he decided to remain silent.