Judge questions plan against Moraes and threatens to “remove” minister from 8/1 actions

Retired judge Sebastião Coelho defended that the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes should leave the report on the actions of the acts of January 8th. Coelho is the lawyer for the first 8/1 defendant to be tried and convicted by the Court. Last week, Moraes stated that the investigation into the acts of vandalism revealed an alleged plan to hang him in Praça dos Três Poderes.

The judge said that if the statement is true, the minister placed himself as a “victim” of the facts investigated, which is why he should be declared a suspect to act in the processes. “I expect Mr. Alexandre de Moraes to leave the process. If you don’t leave, minister, we will remove you. Understand that we are going to remove you, in a way… You will leave this process, believe that”, said Coelho in a live broadcast on Sunday (7) on Instagram.

“You can only be hanged for your own language, for what you say all the time. The noose is tightening around your neck because of what you say every day. This can happen. Now, for the people, I doubt it… This has to have consequences at the institutional level, at the political level. If this statement is not true, the minister loses all credibility”, said Coelho.

The judge highlighted that Moraes must “immediately” present evidence about the “homicidal plan” reported by him last week. Furthermore, the lawyer stated that the STF is an “incompetent court” to judge those involved in acts of vandalism. Coelho also criticized the role of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) in the case.

“You have diminished your institution and now you are trying to diminish it even more, forcing people to sign proposals, confessions of guilt, to get rid of the process”, said the lawyer about the non-criminal prosecution agreements signed by the Attorney General’s Office ( PGR) with defendants from January 8th.

Coelho once again stated that “it was legally impossible to consummate the crime of a coup d’état”. During the first trial, he had already questioned the lack of adequate instruments to carry out a coup. “Did anyone bring a rifle to Brasília? Among the people who were there on January 8th, there was none. Was there an impediment to the functioning of the powers? Which power stopped functioning due to the action that took place in this building and other buildings?”, he said.

“The Federal Supreme Court today is not a court of Justice, it is a political faction”, stated the judge on live. On September 13, during the trial of the first defendant of 8/1, the jurist even said that STF ministers are “the most hated people in this country”.

“On these benches here, on these two sides, ministers, are the most hated people in this country. Unfortunately, how many photos do I have with ministers of this court. Many, many. I didn’t come to the wake of Sepúlveda Pertence, a person I loved very much, not to say that I was affronted to this Court. But your Excellencies must be aware that they are hated people in this country. This is a reality that someone has to say this directly”, declared the retired judge at the time.

In September, the National Council of Justice (CNJ) ordered the opening of a disciplinary complaint against Coelho. In the decision, the national justice inspector, minister Luis Felipe Salomão, cited a statement from the judge made on November 20, 2022, in which he said he would arrest minister Alexandre de Moraes. “The solution will be to arrest Alexandre de Moraes! And I give a legal basis for this”, stated Sebastião Coelho at the Army HQ, in Brasília.