Bolsonaro: 9/7 could lead to conviction at the TSE – 09/03/2023 – Power

With four lawsuits pending at the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), September 7, 2022 could lead Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to yet another conviction in the electoral harvest.

The losing ticket is accused of abuse of political and economic power, as well as misuse of the media.

In general terms, the argument is that Bolsonaro would have taken advantage of the act in which he participated as head of state, using the administrative structure and public resources, in favor of the electoral campaign.

The Independence Day of 2021, in turn, became the apex of the former president’s coup-mongering and anti-democratic speech. On the occasion, Bolsonaro made threats against the STF (Federal Supreme Court) in front of thousands of supporters in Brasília and São Paulo, urged disobedience to court decisions and said that he would only leave the Presidency of the Republic dead.

At the TSE, the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Independence, which took place in the middle of the electoral campaign, are the subject of three Aijes (judicial electoral investigation actions) and an electoral representation.

In addition to the possibility of a fine and political wear and tear, a possible new conviction of Bolsonaro in the TSE may generate elements that thicken other actions.

As Bolsonaro has already been declared ineligible, the main practical effect of these actions targets allies, since they may result in the ineligibility, for example, of the candidate for vice-president of the plate, Walter Braga Netto, and of the current senator and then vice-president, Hamilton Mourão.

The actions were presented by the PDT, by Lula’s coalition (PT) and by the then candidate for the Presidency of União Brasil, Soraya Thronicke (Podemos-MS). In July, the TSE Minister and Electoral Inspector General, Benedito Gonçalves, decided to bring together the four processes, so that testimonies and evidence can be used between them.

Bolsonaro’s defense maintains that there was no symbolic appropriation of the commemoration of the bicentennial of Independence. It argues that, while fulfilling the role of president, during the civic-military parade, Bolsonaro did not make political or electoral speeches. And that the rallies would have taken place with clear differentiation and without the use of the presidential sash.

In the previous year, in 2021, Bolsonaro had already used the 7th of September to mobilize supporters. The month leading up to the holiday that year was one of the most tense throughout his tenure.

At the time, Bolsonaro raised the tone in antagonism with the TSE with lives against the polls and received military personnel in a parade of armored vehicles and tanks on the Esplanada, in an act seen as pressure on Congress on the eve of deciding on the PEC of the printed vote.

In August 2021, the PGR (Attorney General’s Office) asked the Supreme Court to investigate the preparations for the acts, targeting other actors and allies of the former president. Reported by Alexandre de Moraes, the investigation is under secrecy and remains open in court.

It was in this inquiry that Moraes’ first determinations were made shortly after the January 8 attacks in the Praça dos Três Poderes.

It is unlikely that Bolsonaro will suffer any punishment for September 7 in 2021. It cannot be ruled out, however, that the act appears in the timeline of events that thickened the coup plot that ended on January 8.

USP law professor and lawyer Rafael Mafei assesses that, if Bolsonaro is denounced for the anti-democratic attacks earlier this year, it is very likely that the 2021 Independence Day episode will be mentioned in the prosecution’s piece.

He points out that the date would not appear as part of the execution of the crime, but as a background scenario.

On one of the fronts of investigation into January 8, Bolsonaro is the target of the inquiry that investigates the responsibility of intellectual authors and people who instigated the coup acts.

Among the possible crimes investigated are those of violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état and criminal association.

The representation of the PGR requesting the inclusion of Bolsonaro in the investigation occurred after the former president posted on the social network, on January 10, a video questioning the regularity of the elections and later deleted.

In April, in a statement to the PF, the former president claimed to have made the publication by mistake, when he was under the effect of medication.

In the investigation, the PGR requested data from the former president’s social media posts about elections, electronic ballot boxes, TSE, STF and Armed Forces, in addition to photos and videos related to these topics, which was authorized by Moraes. According to the decision, the PGR maintains that there is a need for a global investigation of the acts practiced before and after January 8 by Bolsonaro.

Tatiana Stoco, professor of law and criminal procedure at Insper and lawyer, explains that, under Brazilian law, any action or omission without which a result would not have occurred is considered to be its cause.

“This opening of our criminal law – which, incidentally, is highly criticized by jurists – could eventually justify a criminal charge against Bolsonaro, especially if other requirements, including knowledge of the planning of acts, are present”, he says.

In the judgment of the TSE trial in which Bolsonaro was convicted and declared ineligible for eight years, the acts that took place in 2021 are used to rule out the defense’s thesis that the meeting with ambassadors promoted by the then president in 2022, less than three months from the elections, would be part of an institutional dialogue with the electoral court.

When talking about the lives of August 2021, the decision says that the president was emphatic in the “warning” that without a printed vote, the 2022 elections would be under suspicion and that some measure should be taken.

“He then outlined the call for September 7, 2021, in line with institutional antagonism with the Judiciary. This intention, as is well known, was carried out a month later”, says an excerpt from the judgment.

The excerpt from the live was spread by allies, such as federal deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP). In the video, Bolsonaro says that, if there was an invitation from the leadership, he would participate in the movement on Independence Day.

“There is no greater duty of loyalty to your country, to democracy and to freedom than being at the side of the people”, said the former president at the time.