House approves bill that provides for prison for criticizing politicians

The Chamber of Deputies approved, this Wednesday (14), Bill 2720/23 that typifies crimes of discrimination against politically exposed persons in cases such as refusal to open or maintain accounts in financial institutions. There were 252 votes in favor of the measure and 163 against. The proposal goes to the Senate.

The project, authored by deputy Dani Cunha (União Brasil-RJ), was voted on in the plenary session after the approval of the urgency, which also occurred that night. The rapporteur, Deputy Claudio Cajado (PP-BA), stated that the project allows politically exposed persons “to have access to the grounds used for refusing the exercise of rights that any citizen has”.

According to the text, anyone who criticizes a person who is “politically exposed” or who has been denounced and even convicted in cases that have not yet become final could be punished with two to four years in prison and a fine.

“Politically exposed” persons are: representatives of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary powers; presidents and officials of other countries; presidents of political parties; authorities of public or private international law entities, such as the UN, WHO, OAS and NGOs; between others. The relatives of these people would also be shielded by the new law.

The text also provides that the accused is prevented from opening or operating bank accounts, in addition to having denied any request to obtain credit from financial institutions. Under the proposal, any legitimate expression of opinion runs the risk of being criminalized. The set of penalties is greater than those provided for in the Penal Code for crimes against honor (slander, defamation and injury) and similar to measures adopted for those accused of corruption, drug trafficking and terrorism.

The author of the proposal is the daughter of former deputy Eduardo Cunha (MDB-RJ), who was sentenced to more than 55 years in prison in three corruption cases. On the 29th of May, in the wake of the understanding that dismissed Lula for alleged incompetence of the Justice of Paraná, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) decided to annul a decision that had condemned Eduardo Cunha for receiving bribes in the scope of Lava investigations. Jet.