The São Paulo Court received the complaint offered by the Electoral Public Prosecution Service and filed a lawsuit against Federal Deputy Mario Frias (PL-SP) for disclosing fake news about President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) in the 2022 campaign.
O Estadão He asked for the deputy’s demonstration, but he preferred not to comment on the decision. Mario Frias has not yet been formally cited. He will have the opportunity to present his defense in the process.
In a visit to the German Complex, in the north of Rio de Janeiro, in October 2022, Lula was presented by residents with a cap written “CPX”, an abbreviation of “slum complex”.
According to a complaint from the Electoral Public Prosecution Service, Mario Frias distorted the meaning of the acronym to associate the president with drug trafficking. The deputy published in X (former Twitter) an image of Lula using the cap accompanied by the text: “slang used by the crime CPX = Cupinxa, partner of the crime.” The publication had over 43,000 likes and 10,000 shares.
Prosecutor Silvio Marques states that Mario Frias was incurred in Article 323 of the Electoral Code – “disclose, in electoral propaganda or during the election campaign period, facts that he knows untrue to parties or candidates and capable of influenced by the electorate.”
“The accused, thus, acted with the intention of connecting the figure of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to criminal factions that work in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro and, thus, influence voters not to vote for the candidate,” says an excerpt of the complaint.
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Judge Cecilia Pinheiro da Fonseca, from the 6th Electoral Zone of São Paulo, considered that there is “proof of criminal materiality and sufficient evidence of authorship”. She ordered the bailiff notify Mario Frias to submit his written defense within ten days.
