The Electoral Court of São Paulo ordered the cancellation of the mandate and declared the ineligibility for eight years of Councilman Rubinho Nunes (Union) for sharing, during the campaign to the city of São Paulo in 2024, a false medical report published by Pablo Marçal (PRTB), which attributed to the then candidate Guilherme Boulos (PSOL) a supposed treatment for drug use. The decision was issued on Friday, 30, and it is appealed.
The content was released on Rubinho’s Instagram on the eve of the first round of the elections. The report, later proven as false through expertise, attributed to Boulos a psychotic outbreak and positive result for cocaine.
For Judge Antonio Maria Patiño Zorz, from the 1st Electoral Zone of São Paulo, responsible for the sentence, the publication represented a serious violation of the electoral legislation: in addition to configuring negative propaganda based on a well -known fact, there was, according to him, non -compliance with the required diligence of any candidate, especially at a decisive time of the campaign.
The action was filed by Leonardo dos Reis Adorno Becker, candidate for councilman in 2024 by the PSOL-Rede Federation. He argued that Rubinho acted in collusion with Marçal to disseminate misinformation for electoral purposes, using a well -known document to attack Boulos’ honor and interfere with the balance of the dispute.
Rubinho’s defense, in turn, stated that the report was shared by mistake and remained in the air for only 26 minutes, being erased as soon as doubts arose about his authenticity.
The lawyers maintained that the publication had irrelevant impact on the election’s outcome, as Boulos advanced to the second round, and claimed that there was no abuse, but a legitimate strategy of political confrontation on social networks.
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They also pointed out that Boulos participated in a Live with Marçal in the second round and would have stated that “he had no hurt” for the episode – which, according to the defense, would show that the case would already be overcome.
The judge, however, rejected the arguments, stating that while the post was aired for a few minutes, the scope was expressive, with more than 3,000 likes, and that the use of a forged document extrapolated the limits of political criticism, affecting the integrity of the election. He also pointed out that the publication occurred in the previous election, in a sensitive time of the campaign, and contributed to the electoral visibility of Rubinho, which tripled his vote compared to 2020.
“The use of social network is not allowed to disseminate known information regarding the false report of an opponent candidate for the purpose of obtaining electoral visibility,” wrote the magistrate.
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In the sentence, the judge emphasized that the Electoral Judicial Investigation Action (AIJE) is not intended not to protect individual honor from candidates, but to guarantee the stability of the democratic process, classifying the conduct of Rubinho as part of a “communicational operation performed in a systematic way”, aimed at reaching the reputation of an adversary on the eve of the vote, through the disclosure of fraudulent content with broad potential for viralization.
In addition to revoking the mandate, the magistrate declared the parliamentarian ineligible for eight years. “AIJE aims to protect legal good from collective ownership, namely, the stability of the democratic regime manifested by the sovereignty of popular vote,” wrote the judge, noting that, given the severity of the circumstances, it is not necessary to prove that the episode changed the final result of the election.
The decision was issued at first instance and is still appealed to the Regional Electoral Court of São Paulo and, later, to the Superior Electoral Court.
