Supreme Court Minister André Mendonça voted on Tuesday (15) for the withdrawal of Minister Alexandre de Moraes from the inquiry of the coup attempt in 2022. Mendonça partially welcomed a appeal presented by the defense of Filipe Martins, former president of then-President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who is defendant in the case.
The Minister, nominated for the Supreme Court by Bolsonaro, who would include plans to pay against his life. “Although the taxable person of criminal organization crimes and against the Democratic Rule of Law is society, executory acts would directly affect the rapporteur minister,” Mendonça wrote in his vote.
Nevertheless, he rejected requests for impediment against ministers Flávio Dino and Cristiano Zanin, as well as against Attorney General Paulo Gonet.
So far, Mendonça has been the only one to vote in favor of the removal of Moraes. Another five ministers have already spoken out against the request, keeping Moraes as rapporteur of the case. The vote takes place in the virtual plenary of the court and runs until 11:59 pm on Tuesday.
The judgment of the inquiry became another chapter of tension between Mendonça and Moraes. The two starred in a clash in September 2023, during the trial of the first defendant for the scammer acts of 8 January. At the time, Mendonça questioned how the Planalto Palace was invaded and charged the release of videos from the Ministry of Justice. Moraes reacted vehemently, defending the action of the federal government and pointing out the omission of the Military Police of the Federal District.
The attempt to remove Moraes occurs amid the trial of members of the so -called “Abin Parallel” and the criminal organization investigated for planning a coup after Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat in 2022.
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Martins is one of the eight defendants accused of participating in the plot and is responsible for the crimes of criminal organization and attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law.
