Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), banned the former special advisor to the Presidency for International Affairs in the Bolsonaro government, Filipe Martins, from participating in a hearing in the Chamber of Deputies, this Wednesday (27).
Martins was invited to provide explanations about the “inconsistencies related to the records of his visits to the United States that resulted in his preventive detention in the year 2024” at the Foreign Relations and National Defense Commission (CREDN). He would participate remotely, since he is prohibited from leaving the city where he lives, Ponta Grossa (PR).
Moraes’ decision was sent, through letters, to the presidents of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and of the Foreign Relations Commission, Lucas Redecker (PSDB-RS). In the document, the minister says that the hearing is vetoed and threatens to arrest Martins again if it happens.
“Failure to comply with the conditions imposed when granting provisional release will result in the immediate conversion of the precautionary measure into preventive detention”, says the STF minister.
Collegiate deputies criticized Moraes’ decision for prohibiting Martins’ participation. The author of the request for the hearing, deputy Marcel van Hattem (Novo-RS), called the measure another “abuse” of the minister and an “attack on Parliament”.
“Why doesn’t Alexandre de Moraes want him to come? In fact, why do you keep Felipe Martins under house arrest? Because the precautions he needs to respect at this moment are effectively those of house arrest, without being able to leave the house at night or on weekends and without leaving his district.”
According to Van Hattem, this initiative by Moraes is a way of “trying to censor, trying to stifle the Filipe Martins case”. “When everything comes to light, all the errors made in your process will be seen or will be seen. And in my case also with the Federal Police indictment”, declared the deputy.
Filipe Martins case
Bolsonaro’s former advisor is being investigated for his alleged participation in the case of the draft of a decree that, among other things, provided for the calling of new presidential elections in 2022.
He was arrested on February 8th this year because his name was on an editable document found on Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid’s computer with a list of passengers for a presidential flight to Orlando (USA) scheduled for December 30th. 2022. The Federal Police (PF) and minister Alexandre de Moraes used this editable document as proof that Martins was trying to avoid prosecution by fleeing the country.
From the beginning of preventive detention, the defense presented complete evidence that Filipe Martins had not boarded that flight and was in Brazil on that date. The basis for his arrest was therefore a trip he never made.
In a recent report on the alleged coup d’état, the PF states that, instead of having fled, as initially stated in the document that led to the boy’s arrest, Martins had, in fact, forged “a possible exit from Brazil”. The objective would be to “hinder its eventual location and consequent application of criminal law”.
