With a history of clashes with the Federal Supreme Court (STF), retired judge Sebastião Coelho returned to the center of attention on Tuesday (25), by shouting a session of the first class of the Court during the reading of the report of Minister Alexandre de Moraes in the trial of complaints against former President Jair Bolsonaro and allies.
Even without entering the plenary, Rabbit shouted words like “arbitrary” outside, momentarily interrupting the session. . He was later released, after determination of the president of the Supreme Court, Minister Luis Roberto Barroso. The lawyer, who acts in the defense of Filipe Martins-former Bolsonaro advisor and one of the accused, although not tried in this session-had not made the prior accreditation required for lawyers.
The scene in the Supreme Court is not an isolated episode in Sebastião Coelho’s recent trajectory. At 69 years old and born in Santana de Ipanema (AL), he is retired from the Federal District and Territories Court (TJDFT), where he also acted as a corregedor at the DF Regional Electoral Court (TRE-DF). Since departing from the judiciary in 2022, she has been involved in controversy for her critical posture to the judiciary.
Sebastião Coelho is investigated by the National Council of Justice (CNJ) for alleged incitement to scammer acts while still holding the position of judge. The investigation was motivated by speeches and appearances in events at the coup camp in front of the Army Headquarters in Brasilia, after the 2022 elections. In one of the statements, he even stated that “the solution will be arresting Alexandre de Moraes.”
The CNJ even authorized the breach of rabbit bank secrecy. However, the Federal Police concluded that there were no financial evidence that would direct it directly to attacks on January 8, 2023, identifying only personal expenses.
Profile and trajectory
Graduated in Law from the United Metropolitan Colleges, in São Paulo, in 1980, Sebastião Coelho joined the TJDFT as a substitute judge about ten years later. He acted in different courts, including the Court of Criminal Executions and the Military Audit. In 2013, he was promoted to Judge, a position of which he retired voluntarily in September 2022.
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Since then, he has taken on the defense of several defendants linked to undemocratic acts of 8 January, including Aécio Lúcio Costa Pereira, sentenced to 17 years in prison by the STF. In the oral argument of Pereira’s trial, Coelho classified the Supreme Court ministers as the “most hated people” in the country.
The recent STF detention reinforces its image as one of the most controversial characters among those who defend investigated for involvement in acts against Brazilian democracy. Upon leaving court, Sebastião Coelho stated that he will trigger the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and criticized the limitation of access to the trial: “If it is to watch the big screen, I prefer to see from home, what I will do now.”
