The judge of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) of Brazil and rapporteur of the action against Jair Bolsonaro voted for the disqualification of the former Brazilian president for the next eight years.
Benedito Gonçalves, in a speech with strong words, considered that Jair Bolsonaro committed abuse of power and politics and misuse of the media. The judge acquitted Walter Braga Netto, Bolsonaro’s candidate for vice president.
The trial will conclude on Thursday, starting at 09:00 (13:00 in Lisbon).
“It is not possible to turn a blind eye to the undemocratic effects of violent speeches and lies that call into question the credibility of electoral justice,” he stressed.
Jair Bolsonaro, the judge said, sought “international smear” and uttered “heinous lies” about the Brazilian electoral process, even after losing the October elections to Lula da Silva “in order to keep his political bases mobilized.”
On the second day of the trial, at the TSE, in Brasilia, Benedito Gonçalves considered that Bolsonaro had committed an abuse of political power and misuse of the media during a meeting organized by the then Brazilian head of state, in the middle of the electoral campaign, with foreign ambassadors in the country Palácio da Alvorada, official residence of the President in Brasilia, on July 18, 2022.
In that meeting, which was broadcast on state television TV Brasil and on social networks, the then President launched several unfounded attacks against the reliability of the electoral process and, more precisely, electronic ballot boxes, used since 1996 and validated by various organizations. international. , and the same ones who elected him for various periods as federal deputy and president.
Bolsonaro, before some 40 ambassadors from various countries, including the Portuguese one, said, without substantiation, that the system could be subject to fraud and would not be auditable, he suggested that it was a company that counted the votes and not the TSE and also said, without present any evidence that a ‘hacker’ had access “to everything within the TSE”.
“The meeting had an electoral purpose, seeking to influence the electorate and national and international public opinion using the public structure and the prerogatives of the office of President of the Republic,” the speaker stressed.
The judge rejected the request of Bolsonaro’s defense to withdraw from the process the so-called ‘coup project’, a decree that would have the objective of reversing the result of the elections by promoting an intervention in the electoral court that was at home. of former Justice Minister Anderson Torres during an operation for alleged collusion during attacks by Bolsonaro’s followers on the three powers on the Esplanada dos Ministérios, on January 8 of this year.
This decree is “in its essence a coup d’état”, as defined by the judge.
The trial ends on Thursday with the votes of judges Raul Araújo, Floriano de Azevedo Marques, André Ramos Tavares, Cármen Lúcia, Nunes Marques and, finally, Alexandre de Moraes, president of the TSE.
Raúl Araújo, the first judge to vote on Thursday is Bolsonaro’s ‘hope’.
“Minister Raúl is known for being a lawyer who is very attached to the law. Despite being in an electoral political court, there is the possibility of requesting a review. That is good because it helps us to clarify the facts,” Bolsonaro said on Friday during an interview on local radio.
To be deemed ineligible, Bolsonaro must be convicted by at least four judges. If any of the seven judges requests a review of the case, they must return the records to resume the trial within 30 days, extendable for 30 more days, counted from the date of the session in which the review request was made. With the closure of the high courts in July, the deadline will be raised to 90 days.
Defense attorney Tarcísio Vieira de Carvalho Neto has already announced that if Bolsonaro loses the case and is declared ineligible, he will appeal to the Federal Supreme Court (STF).
The former president has more than a dozen trials pending before the TSE, including verbal attacks on the electoral system and use of public machinery for his own benefit, which could make him lose his political rights.
Bolsonaro, who lost the right to immunity after being defeated in the October elections, still has at least five investigations in the Federal Supreme Court that could lead to his arrest.
Source: TSF
