Last Wednesday (27), the minister filed a criminal report presented to the (Superior Electoral Court) by the federal deputy () against the governor of , (), for disclosing facts known to be untrue during the electoral campaign.
On the day of the second round, . The statement was made at a school in the south of the capital where the governor went to vote. He was alongside (), then a candidate for re-election, and Ricardo Mello Araújo (PL), deputy of the emedebista.
The criminal report, filed by the PSOL candidate that same day, had the objective of offering a complaint or opening an investigation so that the Public Prosecutor’s Office could later present a legal action on the matter.
Boulos argued that he had possibly committed the crime of “disclosing, in electoral propaganda or during the electoral campaign, facts that he knows are untrue in relation to parties or candidates and capable of exerting influence on the electorate”. The penalty is imprisonment for two months to one year or payment of a fine.
Kassio denied following up on the request, not even analyzing it. For him, the TSE does not have the authority to judge common crimes, including electoral crimes, committed by governors, due to the special jurisdiction. In the decision, the minister cited an article of the Constitution that attributes this competence to the STJ (Superior Court of Justice).
“In cases where the observance of jurisdiction is at stake as a prerogative of function, the Major Text conferred on the Federal Supreme Court (art. 102, I, “b” and “c”) and the Superior Court of Justice (art. 105, I, “a”) competence to prosecute and judge, originally, the authorities expressly indicated in the respective precepts, in the face of the commission of common criminal offenses.”
The decision followed the same line defended by the Electoral Attorney General’s Office, which also expressed its refusal to pursue the request in court. The indication of termination of the case due to the absence of procedural requirements is already on the court’s website.
Boulos must now sue the STJ against the governor. Lawyer Alexandre Pacheco Martins, who represents the federal deputy in the process, said that the office had already decided not to appeal in the event of a denial like this. He stated that they will now file a statement with the STJ so that the case continues there.
“It could be within the scope of the process itself [no TSE]but we understand that [assim] it would be faster. It’s easier to come in with a new one. It’s not a legal issue, it’s just a question of pragmatism”, said the lawyer.
