Post deceives by stating that Moraes trampled on the competence of the Superior Military Court – 03/03/2023 – Power

The publication of the website A Trombeta News, which went viral in a post on Twitter, stating that Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Federal Supreme Court), would have run over the competence of the STM (Superior Military Court) when deciding that the STF will judge military personnel involved in the acts of January 8 in Brasilia.

In fact, as verified by the Comprova Project, the minister published such a decision on February 27, but, as the CNJ (National Council of Justice) shows, in the hierarchy of the Brazilian Judiciary, the competence of the STF is above that of the STM. In this way, it is up to the military court to comply with the decisions of the ministers of the Supreme Court, even if they were taken in a monocratic way (by a single minister), such as this one.

In the text of inquiry 4,923, available on the STF website, when explaining that the Supreme Court is responsible for prosecuting and judging the crimes committed in the coup acts of January 8 by civilians or the military, Moraes stated that “the Military Penal Code does not protect the person of the military, but rather the dignity of the Armed Forces institution itself” and that the STF itself has already defined that “Military Justice does not judge ‘military crimes’, but ‘military crimes'”.

Consulted by the report, Rivelino Amaral, professor of law at Multivix College, in Espírito Santo, explains that “the decision of a minister of the STF must be respected and fulfilled and the collegiate decisions of the STF must be followed by all the courts in the country, in the face of its hierarchical superiority”.

He also stated that monocratic decisions, such as that of Moraes in this case, can be attacked through appeals. If accepted, they may be reviewed by a college of ministers.

The decision did not override the competence of the STM that the future president of the body, Francisco Joseli Parente Camelo, and other ministers of the military court told the press that they agree with Moraes’ decision. Their position was registered in matters of SheetG1, Estadão and O Globo.

Comprova classifies as misleading content taken from the original context and used in another so that its meaning undergoes changes; that uses inaccurate data or that induces an interpretation different from the author’s intention; content that is confusing, with or without the deliberate intent to cause harm.

Reach

Comprova investigates suspicious content with greater reach on social networks. The original post on the A Trombeta News website had 168.2 thousand views and more than 7.6 thousand likes.

What the person responsible for the publication says

Contacted by phone and WhatsApp message, Adriana Firmino da Silva Nascimento, responsible for the website A Trombeta News, said that the source of the publication is the website O Antagonista, a partner of UOL. Asked about the change in content —O Antagonista does not claim in any passage that Moraes trampled over the competence of the STM—, Adriana said: “See the content of the news and make your analysis”.

How do we check

The first step was to look for reports on Moraes’ decision. Afterwards, Comprova searched the STF website for the original text of the decision to understand what had been determined by the minister.

The website of the National Council of Justice was also consulted, where there are clarifications and an organizational chart of the Brazilian Judiciary. The report interviewed Rivelino Amaral, a professor of law at the Multivix faculty, and made contact with the website that published the verified content.

The decision

On February 27, Alexandre de Moraes decided that the STF is responsible for prosecuting and judging crimes committed in the coup acts of January 8 by civilians or military personnel. According to the text of inquiry 4,923, available on the STF website, Moraes wrote: “I set the competence of the Federal Supreme Court to prosecute and judge the crimes that occurred on 1/8/2023, regardless of whether those investigated were civil or military and I grant the representation of the Federal Police and authorize the establishment of an investigative procedure to determine the authorship and materiality of any crimes committed by members of the Armed Forces and Military Police related to the attacks against democracy that culminated in the criminal and terrorist acts of January 8, 2023 “.

In the inquiry, Moraes explains that “the Military Penal Code does not protect the person of the military, but the dignity of the very institution of the Armed Forces” and that the STF itself has already defined that “the Military Justice does not judge ‘military crimes’, but yes ‘military crimes'”.

The decision was right, according to Sheet Minister-Brigadier Joseli Parente Camelo, future president of the STM. “I understand that the minister’s decision was, for me, correct. This does not mean that, throughout the process, of the investigations, it will be identified that one or the other is a military crime. In this case, I understand that these that are understood as military crimes would be forwarded to Military Justice. But at this first moment, the understanding is that there was no military crime,” he said.

There are crimes that are present both in the Military Penal Code and in the Penal Code, applied to civilians. According to article 9 of the CPM, in peacetime, military crimes are considered to be those committed by military personnel in active service, during service or acting on account of their duties.

According to Moraes in his decision, “Military Justice does not judge ‘military crimes’, but ‘military crimes'”.

why do we investigate

Comprova monitors suspicious content published on social networks and messaging apps about public policies and elections at the federal level and opens investigations for those publications that have achieved greater reach and engagement. You can also suggest checks via WhatsApp 11 97795-0022.

Other checks

Alexandre de Moraes was the focus of other checks made by Comprova, such as the video that disseminated false information about him and the one that deceived by stating that the minister had filed habeas corpus at the STM.

The investigation of this content was carried out by Folha and A Gazeta and published on March 3 by Projeto Comprova, a coalition that brings together 41 vehicles to check viral content. It was verified by Correio Braziliense, Estadão and Grupo Sinos.