The lawyer representing the prosecution in the trial that could cost former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro his political rights said on Thursday he must be found guilty of election crimes and attempted coup.
“Systematic attacks on democracy, especially on ministers. What a sad scene in our history. To this Court and the STF [Supremo Tribunal Federal]. A clear attempt at a military coup, a coup,” lawyer Walber Agra said in the plenary session of the Superior Electoral Court.
Agra argued on behalf of the Democratic Labor Party, which filed the lawsuit in the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), at the first hearing that the former president was “systematically attacking” both the court and democracy itself.
“Why did we go blind, I don’t know, maybe one day we will find out the reason, do you want me to tell you what I think, say, I don’t think we went blind, I think we are blind, Blind people who see, Blind people who, seeing, do not see,” said the lawyer, citing the book “Essay on Blindness”, by José Saramago.
“Are we going to enter a stage of collective blindness again? How can that not be a fact? There was a meeting with a clear deviation from the goal of demoralizing the institutions and internationally, which is serious. Public resources were used for electoral purposes and various times,” stated Walber Agra.
The action, confirmed by the Electoral Public Ministry, alleges that Bolsonaro committed abuses 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 President’s home office in Palácio da Alvorada. Brazil, on July 18, 2022.
During this meeting, the then president launched several unfounded attacks on the reliability of the electoral process and, in particular, on the electronic ballot boxes, in use since 1996 and validated by various international bodies, which elected him for several terms of office as a federal deputy and President.
Bolsonaro said in front of about 40 ambassadors, including the Portuguese, baselessly that the system could be the target of fraud and would be unverifiable, insinuating that it was a company that counted the votes and not the TSE and also said, without any evidence that a ‘hacker’ had had access “to everything within the TSE”.
According to Walber Agra, “institutional propaganda was diverted to spread ‘fake news'”, in a “clear coup attempt”, in addition to embarrassing “the Brazilian diplomatic corps”.
The trial began in a calm atmosphere and at the entrance there were no demonstrations, neither against nor for the former head of state.
Seven judges belonging to the TSE, chaired by Alexandre de Moraes, considered “enemy number one” of Jair Bolsonaro, began to decide in a trial that started at 9:30 a.m. local time (1:30 p.m. in Lisbon) for the preservation of political rights, exclusion or postponement of the decision.
The decision is not expected to be made on Thursday
The court can continue the trial at subsequent hearings on June 27 and 29.
In the event that any of the seven judges request a review of the trial, “they must return the case to resume the trial within 30 days, extendable for a further 30 days from the date of the hearing in which the request for review was submitted”. made,” explains the TSE.
Source: DN
