Otávio de Noronha, from the STJ, states that comment was a “joke without evil” and that the speech was distorted by the press
The Minister of the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) João Otávio de Noronha said on Thursday (20.mar.2025) that “Evil is who hears of what he speaks in”. Gave the statement after being criticized for with Bahians during a judgment of the 4th class of the Court on the 3rd (18.mar).
According to the magistrate, the joke was “A joke without evil” and that the speech was distorted by the press.
“Life shows us that wickedness is more in those who hear than in whom it speaks. I have for Bahia the greatest appreciation. Brazil was discovered by Bahia. Brazil begins by Bahia. The royal family when it came to Brazil the first stop was in Bahia. Bahia is Rui Barbosa.said the minister in session of the 4th Panel this 5th (20.mar).
Also according to Noronha, the joke was told to him by a Bahian, the retired STJ Minister Peçanha Martins. He also said to regret the note published by the governor of Bahia, (PT), about the case.
“I was sad to see that the governor let out a note considering the comment xenophobia. Where? Am I who will harass the countrymen of Aliomar Baleeiro? De Caetano Veloso? I want to say that I will not intimidate.he said.
Understand the case
During the court meeting on Tuesday (18.mar), Minister Raul Araújo, who is a native of Fortaleza, Ceará, commented that he had a problem with the meniscus. He said, in a joke, that this kind of injury is “Common to us athletes”.
The president of the 4th class, Noronha, returned the irony: “Your excellence with this athletic body must be a basketball player”.
After Araújo answered, between laughs, who had been injured playing basketball, Noronha made the following joke: “You already know, right? Bahian who plays basketball. They say the Bahian is so agile, so agile that when playing basketball, he throws the ball in the basket [sexta] And she only falls on Saturday ”.
Shortly after the speech, who laughed at some of the present, the minister, a three -heart miner, apologized. “The Bahians who forgive me. I have a huge sympathy for Bahia. Don’t kick me out, because I love acarajé”he said.
On social networks, the governor of Bahia criticized the speech, which he classified as “Pure xenophobia”. “It is terrifying to hear, in the middle of 2025, an authority reproduces a prejudiced stereotype against the Bahian people. The unreasonable speech of one of the ministers of a respectable institution like the STJ cannot be considered just a joke of bad taste,” he said.
