Who is the TSE minister who can postpone Bolsonaro’s trial

The trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), which will resume on Tuesday night (27), may be interrupted if any of the ministers of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) requests a review of the process – a longer period for a more in-depth analysis of the records. In recent interviews, Bolsonaro said he expected at least one of them to use this feature.

Raul Araújo Filho is known for “being a jurist with a strong attachment to the law, there is a possibility that he may ask for a review and that helps to clarify the facts”, according to the former president. The 64-year-old magistrate will be the second minister to cast the judgment vote.

Araújo Filho has been a minister at the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) since 2010 and is close to the more conservative political field, with a more traditionalist bias in judgments.

In the 2022 elections, he granted a decision at the request of the PL that prohibited political demonstrations by artists who performed at the Lollapalooza music festival in São Paulo, after singer Pablo Vittar raised a flag of the then candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ( PT) during the show.

The magistrate has held the position of effective minister of the TSE since August last year for the biennium 2022 to 2024.

“It is an extremely complex process filled with highly sensitive legal issues, it would not be surprising to request a view. It is part of the court’s tradition, not only in this type of trial, but in any action,” said Tarcísio Vieira, the former president’s lawyer at the TSE, in an interview with GloboNews, without mentioning which ministers could ask for a review of the process.

Despite being able to request a review of the process, Raul Araújo Filho will not be able to suspend the process, since the more in-depth analysis has a maximum period of 60 days. However, this time may help the former president’s defense to formulate a better position to defend him.

In addition to Araújo Filho, there is also the expectation that Kássio Nunes Marques will ask for a review of the process, having been appointed to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) by Bolsonaro. He will be the penultimate to present the vote, preceding only Minister Alexandre de Moraes.