PGR: Bolsonaro did not commit a crime in speech to ambassadors – 03/09/2023 – Politics

Deputy Attorney General of the Republic and right-hand man of Augusto Aras, Lindôra Araújo told the STF (Federal Supreme Court) that former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) did not commit crimes or acts of impropriety in the presentation with coup threats to foreign ambassadors in July last year.

She requested the archiving of a request for investigation of the former president submitted by deputies from the PT, PSOL, PV, PSB and PDT.

The parliamentarians asked for investigations into suspected crimes against the democratic rule of law, electoral crimes, crimes of responsibility and acts of administrative impropriety.

Currently, Bolsonaro is already being investigated by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) because of the meeting with ambassadors, in which the then president repeated conspiracy theories about electronic voting machines, discredited the electoral system and attacked ministers of the Supreme Court.

The request sent to the Supreme Court was under the responsibility of Minister Rosa Weber, who had already denied another manifestation by Lindôra against the progress of the action. Rosa assumed the presidency of the STF in September of last year, and the rapporteur of the case became Minister Luiz Fux.

Lindôra said that, as much as Bolsonaro’s demonstrations are “politically and administratively questionable”, he sees no crime in what he said.

According to Lindôra, “the proselytizing discourse of the represented [Bolsonaro] does not have the ability to incite, directly or indirectly, the participation of its supporters in criminal acts or acts of aggression against democracy or even animosity between the Armed Forces and the constituted powers”.

The deputy PGR said that the speech was “mere impression without the aptitude to abolish the democratic rule of law or to foment the stirring of tempers in the barracks against the Superior Court”.

“[Não] the use of criminal justice to combat and repress the manifestation of ideas without apparent meaning is justified, especially when dealing with issues related to political accountability, which is immune to the heavy force of criminal law.”

She also stated that “political agents do not practice acts of administrative impropriety that translate, in fact, into crimes of responsibility”. In such cases, they would be subject to political accountability.

In the process, Bolsonaro defended himself with the argument that, at the meeting with the ambassadors, “he only expressed criticism regarding the weaknesses of the electronic voting system, insufficient to characterize the attempt to violently abolish the democratic rule of law with the restriction or impediment the exercise of other constitutional powers”.

He also said that his speech did not incite animosity between the Armed Forces and the Electoral Justice.

At last year’s event, Bolsonaro accused Supreme Court ministers of trying to bring instability to the country, by ignoring suggestions from the Armed Forces for changes in the system, less than three months before the dispute.

“Why does a group of three people just want to bring instability to our country, not accepting any of the suggestions from the Armed Forces, which were invited?”, he said.

On more than one occasion, Bolsonaro tried to discredit the ministers, especially linking Edson Fachin and Luis Roberto Barroso to the PT and Lula, who at the time was already leading the polls.