Members of the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) see the explosions in Praça dos Três Poderes this Wednesday (13) as an opportunity to bury discussions about the possibility of amnesty for those arrested on January 8th. Furthermore, another point raised concerns the Executive’s attempt to move forward with the so-called “Censorship Bill”, which aims to regulate social networks in Brazil.
Images from a security circuit camera at the Federal Supreme Court (STF) showed the action of Francisco Wanderley Luiz, 59 years old. He threw explosives near the Court building at around 7:30 pm, and died as a result of one of the detonations.
One of the lines of investigation by the Federal Police is that the case of the explosions is linked to the acts of January 8, 2023. “This person has been to Brasília other times. In fact, according to reports from family members, he was in Brasília on beginning of the year 2023. It is still early to say whether there was direct participation in the acts of January 8, but the investigation will point out”, said Andrei Rodrigues, general director of the PF.
For those in government, this case could be used to try to bury the discussion on the bill to amnesty those arrested on January 8th. The opposition tried to move forward with the issue throughout this year, but the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), withdrew the proposal from the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) and announced the creation of a Special Commission, which has not yet has been installed.
The chief minister of the Secretariat of Social Communication, Paulo Pimenta, called the explosions “attacks on democracy and the Brazilian people”. “We will continue working for the reconstruction of our country and for the unity of the Brazilian people, [e] all those who are against this will be defeated once again”, he said in a post on the social network X.
Representative Lindbergh Farias, deputy leader of the PT in the Chamber, demanded the conviction of those involved in the acts of January 8th. “This amnesty campaign is not sustainable. The people who carried out the attempted coup d’état must be tried and condemned,” he said.
Government will press against the installation of the special commission on the amnesty bill
In the government’s strategy, the explosions in Praça dos Três Poderes should put even more pressure on the Special Commission that would discuss the amnesty project not even being installed. Lira withdrew the CCJ’s proposal to attract PT’s support in the strategy to elect Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB) to the presidency of the Chamber next year. At the same time, in order not to lose votes in the PL, he used the strategy of creating the collegiate body.
According to the presidency, the commission will be formed by 34 full members and 34 substitutes. It is up to the President of the House to determine that the commission is installed and, consequently, open the deadline for party nominations.
Regarding the proposal, Pimenta minimized the possibility of discussing the topic at this time. “Firstly, I think that there is no amnesty in a process that has not yet been completed. It is not even over. There are things that have not been investigated. It is a sign of impunity”, criticized the minister.
In addition to the government’s speech, minister Alexandre de Moraes also spoke out this Thursday (14) against the discussion on amnesty. “This necessary pacification of the country is only possible with the accountability of all criminals. There is no possibility of pacification with amnesty for criminals. Impunity will generate more aggressiveness, as it did yesterday, because people think they can come to Brasília, enter the STF to blow up the STF”, said Moraes.
Rapporteur of the amnesty PL in the Chamber, deputy Rodrigo Valadares (União-SE) criticized the attempt to link the explosions to the attacks on January 8th. “The sad and regrettable episode that occurred in Praça dos Três Poderes makes it very clear that it is an isolated incident of a person who clearly suffered mental disorders. Nothing has any correlation with the right or with the victims of January 8th,” he stated.
PF director defends regulation of networks after explosions in Brasília
Responsible for conducting investigations into the case of the explosions, the general director of the PF, Andrei Rodrigues, took the opportunity to defend the regulation of social networks. The agenda is taken up by the Lula government and members of the left-wing bench in Congress.
“The seriousness of the case shows the need for regulation with clear rules for social networks. It is not possible to live with this type of action. This case clearly shows the importance of regulating networks, so that people don’t go unpunished committing crimes on the internet”, said Rodrigues.
Responsible for the explosions in Brasília, Francisco Wanderley Luiz announced the attacks through messages on WhatsApp and published screenshots on social media.
As shown by People’s Gazettedeputy Pedro Uczai (PT-SC) recently presented a new project with the aim of regulating digital platforms, dubbed by the opposition as “Censorship PL”.
The text proposes regulating content on digital platforms, with a focus on “combating misinformation”, with the creation of a regulatory agency responsible for monitoring the application of the new rules. Companies that failed to comply with the determinations would be subject to fines and even temporary suspension.
Uczai argues that the measure is essential to “protect democracy and prevent disinformation campaigns from compromising public debate”. When presenting the project, he also says that there is a need to combat the proliferation of false information to protect “voters against disinformation campaigns that manipulate reality and distort facts for hidden purposes”.
The chances of the project progressing at this point are slim, as the debate on the regulation of social networks has been paralyzed in the Chamber since June. At the time, Arthur Lira determined the creation of a working group to discuss the topic, but so far the group has not been installed.
