Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will face trial in the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) for the first time on Thursday, rendering him ineligible for the next eight years, in a case accusing him of abusing political power.
The lawsuit alleges that Jair Bolsonaro committed an abuse of political power and abuse of the media during a meeting organized by the then Brazilian head of state in the middle of the election campaign with foreign ambassadors at the Alvorada Palace, the president’s official home. in Brazil, on July 18, 2022.
During this meeting, Jair Bolsonaro launched several baseless attacks on the reliability of the electoral process and, more specifically, the electronic ballot boxes, used and validated by various international bodies since 1996, and the same ones that elected him to various terms as federal deputy and president.
The trial will begin at 9 a.m. (1 p.m. in Lisbon) and seven judges will decide whether to retain political rights, ineligibility or postpone the decision.
On the eve of the start of the trial, Jair Bolsonaro appealed to TSE judge Benedito Gonçalves, the trial’s rapporteur and the first to vote at the trial, to change his vote.
“I am sure that even Benedito, minister of the STJ [Superior Tribunal de Justiça], now a member of the TSE rapporteur, will change his vote. Senhor Benedito, it’s a matter of coherence”said Jair Bolsonaro to journalists.
Regarding the possibility of being ineligible, Bolsonaro stated that he “wouldn’t want to lose” his political rights.
Source: DN
