CNJ dismisses judge Ludmila Lins Grilo for criticizing the fake news inquiry

The National Council of Justice (CNJ) instituted two disciplinary proceedings against Judge Ludmila Lins Grilo and determined her removal from the position of holder of the Childhood and Youth Court of Unaí (MG). One of the procedures was opened due to criticisms of the investigation of fake news, led by Alexandre de Moraes at the Federal Supreme Court (STF), and another for alleged negligence in the management of the cases under his responsibility. Both open processes may, in the end, result in compulsory retirement.

The decisions were unanimous among the 15 members of the body, who followed the vote of the National Inspector of Justice, Luís Felipe Salomão, who is a minister of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). Like him, almost everyone disapproved of the judge’s statements and conduct, even her defense speeches during oral support in the trial session.

“The defendant does not fulfill her basic duties, failing to appear at the forum even without being authorized to telework, neglecting the management of the notary and failing to supervise the acts of her subordinates. Instead of prioritizing the execution of these management duties, the magistrate participates in numerous activities on the internet, with participation in social networks, interviews, lives, classes where remuneration is obtained”, said Salomão when voting for the opening of the first process.

He pointed out “total negligence” with the rod, with defendants arrested without sentence and released in court. He said that she did not attend the court in person, started to live outside the district of Unaí and signed decisions, prepared by her legal advisor, without reading the processes.

In the other case, concerning interviews and posts on social networks criticizing the survey of fake newsChiefly, Solomon pointed out violation of the duties of the magistracy. “These facts are very serious, serious, incompatible with the function of the judiciary, because they directly violate provisions of the Code of Conduct, of federal legislation and cause a shock to the image of the entire Judiciary”, said the minister.

During her defense, Ludmila said that she joined the court in 2020, at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, and followed the determination of the Court of Justice of Minas Gerais (TJ-MG) to suspend face-to-face hearings, although she disagreed. Later, she claimed that she had to act from a distance after receiving death threats. She presented a document from the TJ-MG institutional security office recommending “reduction in the level of exposure” and “actions that show the immediate and subsequent location of the victim”.

“No one could know where I live or where I work. Consequently, nobody can know where I am, nobody can know that I’m on the forum and I can’t work from there. So, I myself had to provide my own security, working entirely by videoconference”, said the judge during the defense. She added that the TJ-MG and the CNJ, aware of her situation, did nothing to protect her and started to promote her “reputation murder”.

“Both the CNJ and the TJ-MG showed absolute contempt and, at the very least, indifference to my physical integrity and my life. Regrettably, the State failed and it was up to me to promote the necessary measures for my own security”, he said.

In the end, he presented a certificate from the TJ-MG, attached to the process, attesting that there were no pending orders or judgments in his office. He also proved to have held 1,966 hearings since 2020.

The allegations did not convince the advisers. Several of them, who are judges and prosecutors, said they also received threats and did not fail to appear in person at their workplaces.

“I’ve already been threatened as a criminal judge, which I have been for 30 years. And I think it’s incompatible for someone who is in a situation like this, to have an excess of social media, for example. This is not acceptable. And all magistrates who go through this type of situation continue to hold hearings within the forum, going to dispatch coordinating the works of the secretariat. It is a function that must be coordinated by the judge, he is the top manager of the unit”, said the judge Salise Sanchotene.

Criticism of the survey fake news

In the second process, Ludmila is accused of violating the magistrate’s duties, for allegedly adopting a procedure incompatible with the dignity, honor and decorum of her duties. In it, Solomon pointed out seven facts.

The first was a December 2020 radio interview Young pan in which he said that the inquiry of theake news causes “a serious problem of institutional instability”. “It is appalling that a minister of the Court can be the victim, the investigator and the judge,” he said, referring to Alexandre de Moraes. He compared the investigation to the inquiries in Moscow, initiated by the regime of Joseph Stalin and that one of the expedients against this would be to approve, in the Senate, the impeachment of the minister.

In her defense, Ludmila said she made the criticisms as a teacher and co-author of a book about the inquiry. “You cannot prevent a teacher and writer from speaking publicly about her own work,” she said at the session.

She was also sued for sharing and praising, on the networks, an article by journalist Paulo Briguet, which compared Moraes, Luís Roberto Barroso and Salomão himself to the Soviet attorney general Andrey Vyshinsky. “A brilliant article that talks about the Moscow trials, in which the Soviet prosecutor, acts as accuser, judge and victim. Everything we talked about in the end of the world inquiry. It has everything to do with my activity as a teacher. Nothing fairer than sharing this brilliant article, with which I corroborate every word and every comma”, said Ludmila in the session.

Another fact pointed out was a tweet in which she had released a new channel by Allan dos Santos, after the STF determined the blocking of his profiles on social networks.

“He is my personal friend, I am his friend, his wife, I know his family, his children. He is a great connoisseur of philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy, and a great connoisseur of political science. After losing his social media and website, without exposing any kind of comment, neither positive nor derogatory, I just said that he created his own platform to practice his craft. I didn’t make any comments, I didn’t tell anyone to follow, click, buy anything from her. The STF has not established a perpetual ban on Mr. Allan dos Santos and his website has never been the subject of a judicial decision,” said the judge.

She is still accused of participating in party-political activity for attending a conservative event in September 2021 in Florianópolis. In her defense, she stated that the event had a cultural character and was not financed by any party, nor with public money. Another fact pointed out against her was a post in which she criticized the electoral law rule that limits the font size of campaign advertisements. “The cultural cagarregrismo does not give truce”, she posted, when commenting on the news about a search and seizure, last year, determined against the then candidate for senator Sergio Moro, due to the propaganda.

Finally, she was accused of “apparently belittling the position she holds”. In September, in response to a follower who asked her about a possible dismissal, she replied: “This is the average mentality of the Brazilian freighter: most think that losing a cargo means the destruction of someone.”

In the session, she said that she stands by what she wrote. “Perhaps it is customary among magistrates, but there is no rule that obliges me to idolize offices. The only thing I adore is God, our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom I dedicate my words and all my actions, for the rescue of freedom in Brazil”, she said.