The TRF-2 (Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region) denied the Federal’s appeal to institute a case for political use in favor of the former president () of the official festivity, in 2022, on Copacabana beach.
By 4 votes to 1, the federal judges decided to maintain the decision in which judge Mauro Lopes, of the 2nd Federal Court, understood that the request does not apply to the Union, but only to those responsible for distorting the act that occurred in Rio de Janeiro.
One of the Attorney’s Office’s requests is to carry out . Lopes argued that the act would generate new public spending, in addition to being a risk of “ending up awakening political rivalries, with an unpredictable outcome”.
During the session, the federal judges of the TRF-2 questioned the requests of the prosecutors signing the action.
“When I saw this action, a series of questions occurred to me. One of them was: to apologize to whom? The population was full there, it turned green and yellow, and everyone was there… And what are we going to say? ‘No , that’s not the people. The people are our imagination'”, said federal judge Guilherme Diefenthaeler.
Federal judge Luiz Paulo Araújo stated, in his vote, that the alleged political use of September 7th by Bolsonaro cannot be compared to the period of the military dictatorship in the country.
“Condemn the Union to apologize and that the Army ministers [Forças Armadas] Go to the public square to apologize! The notion of sovereignty, forgive me, is being achieved. And there’s more, it’s not just that: ‘since the act must be disclosed’. That is, forcing the Union to carry out propaganda against it; this, now, in 1924 [quis dizer 2024]! We are no longer in 1964 to fight the march of family and freedom. That passed, it was an event that happened”, said the magistrate.
The case’s rapporteur, federal judge Ferreira Neves, had voted in favor of the appeal. He considered that the sentence considered the merits of the analysis of the case, before opening the process and collecting evidence.
Neves defended that the sentence be annulled and the Prosecutor’s Office notified to change the initial request so that a new analysis of the opening of the case could be carried out.
“The only thing that made me move forward with this understanding and accept the Federal Public Ministry’s appeal was precisely to consider the possibility of modifications to the request to adapt it to what we have today as a form of claim to jurisdiction”, stated the rapporteur.
The Federal Public Ministry can appeal the decision.
The was celebrated during the presidential election campaign two years ago. Bolsonaro, at the time a candidate for re-election, called for events in an attempt to transform the celebrations into a celebration.
At the request of the then president, the Armed Forces changed the location of the event from Rio de Janeiro to Copacabana, a neighborhood where Bolsonaro supporters traditionally gather. The September 7th ceremonies in Rio de Janeiro were celebrated on Avenida Presidente Vargas, in front of the Duque de Caxias Palace, headquarters of the Eastern Military Command, in the center.
An event was prepared, with a cannon fire salute, parachutist jumps, a presentation by military bands and a display by the Smoke Squadron.
The pastor organized a sound car that was located a few meters from the stage of the official celebrations. The objective was for Bolsonaro to be able to speak in a space without ties to the military.
Bolsonaro left the official stage when planes from the Fumaça Squadron were still carrying out displays as scheduled in the official acts. They began when the squadron’s aircraft were still flying in the skies of Copacabana.
In the first instance decision, Lopes states that he does not ignore “the relevance of the facts narrated in the initial petition and the plausibility of the allegations alluding to the contamination of the festivities of the Bicentenary of Brazilian Independence by political-partisan demonstrations”.
“The problem is that the requests formulated, in conclusion, by the subscribers of the initial piece would, at most, fit into recommendations to be forwarded to the competent bodies by the MPF itself”, stated the magistrate.
The (Advocacy General of the Union) under the government spoke out against the Attorney’s Office’s request, on the grounds that the Union is a legal entity, which is why it cannot repent. He also claimed that there was no evidence of intent or guilt on the part of the federal government regarding any damages.
The political use of the Bicentennial festivities has already led Bolsonaro to be condemned in the electoral sphere, in 2023, by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), in a decision that leaves him ineligible until 2030.
