Defense requested the removal on the grounds that the Supreme Minister filed a criminal complaint against the former president in 2020, when he was governor of Maranhão
The Minister of the Supreme Court said that he does not see reasons to be prevented from judging former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the case of the attempted coup d’état in 2022. The demonstration was sent to the President of the Court, in response to a request from Bolsonaro’s defense. The former president’s lawyer, Celso Vilardi, requested the removal of Dino from the trial on the grounds that the minister filed a criminal complaint against Bolsonaro in 2020, when he was governor of Maranhão.
At the time, Bolsonaro stated in an interview that Dino would have refused support from the Military Police for his security during a visit to the state. The then governor claimed that the statement was slanderous. In his response, Dino pointed out that he has participated in several trials involving Bolsonaro, including 329 decisions about the acts of 8, without his impartiality previously questioned. He stressed that a lawsuit proposed in another context and holding another position does not constitute an impediment.
Dino also criticized Bolsonaro’s defense attempt to choose the ministers who should judge him, classifying the strategy as a “Algibeira argument.” He reaffirmed that his STF performance is based exclusively on the evidence of the case and that there is no “automatic presumption of bias without concrete demonstration of personal interest in the case.”
In addition to Dino, Bolsonaro’s defense also requested the minister’s removal, claiming that he has already advocated cases involving the former president. Like Dino, Zanin also stated that he is not prevented from participating in the trial. The decision on requests for impediment is responsible for the president of the Supreme Court, Luís Roberto Barroso, who still analyzes the case. The court, historically, does not usually remove ministers when they themselves claim there is no impediment to act in the proceedings.
Posted by Felipe Dantas
*Report produced with the aid of AI
