Moraes schedules Bolsonaro trial for June 22 – 06/05/2023 – Panel

The president of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), Alexandre de Moraes, scheduled for June 22 the trial that could make former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) ineligible.

The action that goes to the vote analyzes whether the meeting promoted by Bolsonaro with ambassadors at the Palácio do Alvorada, in July last year, constitutes abuse of political power. At the time, the then president made accusations against the electoral system without presenting evidence.

She was cleared to go on trial by the TSE corregidor, Minister Benedito Gonçalves, on June 1.

The scheduling of the trial went through an unusual situation this Monday (5). The session’s agenda was even registered in the system and later cancelled. The TSE advisory confirmed the date later.

The process was initiated from a representation sent to the TSE by the PDT, the party that makes up the support base of President Lula (PT).

If declared ineligible, Bolsonaro, 68, will not be able to contest elections for eight years – a period that counts from the 2022 election.

Minister Benedito Gonçalves presented a report with all the measures adopted in the context of the electoral investigation, including witness statements.

He also mentioned the manifestation of the PGE (Electoral Attorney General’s Office), which opined for the partial validity of the action, in order to declare Bolsonaro’s ineligibility due to abuse of political power and misuse of the media.

The Attorney General’s Office stated that the distortions and untruths repeated by the former president during the meeting with the ambassadors and the insinuations that the Electoral Justice had the intention of benefiting the opposing candidate unduly influenced part of the electorate to distrust the electoral system, which was confirmed for notorious facts, “some of them violent, of non-conformity with the results of the presidential elections, in which they were branded as illegitimate and fraudulent”.

Lawyers linked to the case estimate that, if there is a conviction, depending on the court’s understanding, there would be discussions about the possibility of him returning to contest elections in 2030 or only in 2032.

If the understanding of the TSE is that Bolsonaro practiced an act of abuse of power, he would be barred even in 2030, since, for this conviction, the date of disqualification would start counting from January 2023.

In a less unfavorable scenario for Bolsonaro, however, in which he is convicted of prohibited conduct, lawyers say that there would be room to discuss whether Bolsonaro could already run in the 2030 election.

In July last year, Bolsonaro invited dozens of foreign representatives to speak about the country’s electronic voting system.

The event lasted about 50 minutes and was broadcast on TV Brasil.

The PDT says that Bolsonaro practiced abuse of political power at the time, which occurs when the holder of power uses his position “to act in a way to influence the voter”, harming the freedom to vote.

In addition, it claims that it made improper use of social media —by using social networks to convey attacks on the integrity of the voting system.

The party also points out that there was misuse of the state apparatus, as the event took place at the Alvorada Palace and was broadcast on TV Brasil.

Among other statements, according to the representation of the PDT, Bolsonaro stated that, in 2018, when he won the elections against PT Fernando Haddad, electronic voting machines changed the digit 7 to 3 —transforming the vote into “17”, his number, into “13 “, from PT.

According to the document, the former president also said that the Brazilian voting system is “unaudible”, that the calculation would be carried out by a third party company and could not be monitored and that the TSE would have admitted that, in 2018, “invaders could […] exchange votes between candidates”.

These suspicions, all denied by the court, were mentioned repeatedly by the then candidate and allies throughout the electoral process.

The video of the meeting with ambassadors was delivered by the PDT itself when joining the action. In addition, the party’s request for inclusion of the coup draft found by the Federal Police, during a search and seizure earlier this year, at the house of Anderson Torres, who was Minister of Justice under Bolsonaro, was granted.

The document proposed a decree to establish a state of defense at the headquarters of the TSE to review the result of the election. Bolsonaro’s defense contested the inclusion. Documents from the administrative process initiated by the TSE in 2021 to investigate attacks on the fairness of the electoral system were also included.

One of Bolsonaro’s lines of defense was to maintain that the speeches at the event were made as head of state and as an act of government, with the aim of “dispelling doubts about the transparency of the electoral process”.

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