STF ends vote, contrary to chamber and maintains action against branch

With the vote of Minister Cármen Lúcia on Saturday morning (10), the first class of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) unanimously formed part of the case against Federal Deputy Alexandre Ramagem (PL-RJ), accused of involvement in attempted coup. The Court’s decision limits the effects of the resolution of the Chamber of Deputies, which had determined the suspension of the action while the mandate of the parliamentarian lasts.

The trial began on Friday (9) and quickly formed a majority in the STF. The ministers understood that the House has no competence to stop criminal actions ongoing in the Supreme, especially in relation to crimes committed before the parliamentary diplomation.

Thus, the ministers have decided that only crimes attributed to branch and allegedly committed after their diploma – damage qualified by violence and deterioration of overturned assets, related to the acts of vandalism of January 8, 2023 – may be temporarily suspended. Even in these cases, the statute of limitations will also be suspended while the mandate lasts.

Already the other crimes imputed to branch – attempted coup, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law and participation in armed criminal organization – will continue to be moved, as they refer to facts that occurred before their diplomation as a federal deputy.

The decision is seen as a brake on the attempts of the Bolsonarist opposition to bar investigations and processes involving allies. The resolution approved in the House on Wednesday (8) was a response to the complaint accepted by the Supreme Court against former President Jair Bolsonaro and 33 people, including branch, for attempted coup.

Even after a formal warning from Minister Cristiano Zanin to the House of constitutional limits to suspend criminal actions, the opposition insisted on approving the measure.

The rapporteur of the case, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, voted for the continuity of the process and was accompanied by Cristiano Zanin, Flávio Dino, Luiz Fux and, finally, by Cármen Lúcia. The decision reinforces the Supreme Thesis that the legislature cannot interfere with criminal proceedings under the responsibility of the Court.

Unattended

Last month, the Supreme Court sent a letter to the House to inform that the deputies could not suspend the full process of the coup plot against the deputy, who is one of the defendants of Nucleus 1, composed of the main heads of the plot.

The possibility of suspension of criminal proceedings against federal deputies and senators is provided for in article 53 of the Constitution.

In the letter sent to the House, the Supreme Court said that, despite the constitutional permission, only crimes that would have been committed by branch after the mandate may be suspended. The time frame is diploma, which occurred in December 2022.

In March, Ramagem became a defendant for participating in the coup plot with seven others, including former President Jair Bolsonaro, named as leader and main beneficiary, and other military and civilian civilians near the former agent.

Before being elected deputy, Ramagem was Director General of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin). He was accused by the PGR of using the organ’s structure to illegally spy on Bolsonaro’s disaffected. The case became known as “parallel Abin”.

Nucleus 1
The eight defendants make up the so -called “crucial core” of the coup, core 1, had the complaint unanimously accepted by the first class of the Supreme Court on March 26. They are:

1. Jair Bolsonaro, former President of the Republic;
2. Walter Braga Netto, Army General, former Minister and Vice of Bolsonaro on the 2022 election plate;
3. General Augusto Heleno, former Minister of the Institutional Security Office;
4. Alexandre Ramagem, former director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency-ABIN;
5. Anderson Torres, former Justice Minister and former Security Secretary of the Federal District;
6. Almir Garnier, former Navy Commander;
7. Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, Army General and former Defense Minister;
8. Mauro Cid, whistleblower and former joint of Bolsonaro’s orders.