Defenses of Filipe Martins and Marcelo Câmara send final arguments to the STF

The defenses of defendants Filipe Martins and Marcelo Câmara in the coup criminal action presented their final arguments this Saturday, 11th, after the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes backed away from the decision to dismiss the lawyers.

Last Thursday, the 11th, the minister-rapporteur of the process investigating an attempted coup that occurred between 2022 and 2023 decided to dismiss lawyers Jeffrey Chiquini and Eduardo Kuntz from the defenses of their clients, respectively Martins and Câmara, on the grounds that they had acted in an “unusual” way and with a “clear procrastinatory nature” by failing to present the final arguments on time.

In Moraes’ assessment, the two lawyers engaged in bad faith litigation and attempted to delay the progress of the criminal action investigating the attempted coup d’état. However, given the repercussion of the case, the minister backed down from the decision and allowed Chiquini and Kuntz to return to defend the defendants.

The two defenses asked in the closing arguments that their clients be acquitted of all the crimes accused of them and also raised similar preliminary questions, with requests for the nullity of key factors in the process.

Among the requests made by the two lawyers are the declaration of Moraes’ impediment as case rapporteur due to lack of impartiality, the STF’s incompetence to judge the case and the annulment of the criminal action due to the restriction of defense.

These preliminary questions had already been presented by the lawyers of the defendants involved in the crucial core of the coup plot and were rejected in full by the majority of the First Panel of the STF.

When asking for Martins’ acquittal, lawyer Chiquini argued that his client’s arrest “compromised the fairness of the investigation and violated due legal process, contaminating the entire criminal prosecution”.

The former international affairs advisor to the Presidency during the Jair Bolsonaro government was arrested in January 2024 in Operation Tempus Veritatis, which investigated the alleged attempted coup d’état during Bolsonaro’s term. He was released in August of the same year upon compliance with precautionary measures.

“The defender’s arrest did not serve a legitimate purpose, but rather as a mechanism of illegal coercion, which requires its annulment and the recognition of the illegitimacy of the criminal prosecution initiated, with his acquittal being a true moral imperative”, maintained the defense, pointing out that the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) did not present evidence of its client’s involvement in the coup attempt.

Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, former aide-de-camp of the Presidency, cited Martins in his statement. He stated that the then advisor was responsible for delivering to Bolsonaro a coup draft, which provided for the arrest of authorities such as minister Alexandre de Moraes and the annulment of the election result.

The defense of Army Colonel Marcelo Câmara also stated that no evidence was presented by the PGR of his client’s involvement in the crimes. The soldier has been in preventive detention since June this year for having tried to access confidential information about the denunciation of Mauro Cid, former aide-de-camp of the Presidency of the Republic.

The PGR accuses Câmara of having participated in the preparation of the so-called “coup draft” and monitoring Moraes with the aim of neutralizing him. On the other hand, the defense argues, for example, that the PGR did not describe what equipment the military used to monitor the minister, which would prove the lack of evidence of its involvement.

“He was denounced and is being prosecuted solely and exclusively for allegedly carrying out monitoring, a fact that was exhaustively clarified during the criminal investigation,” said Kutnz, who also contested Mauro Cid’s accusation and the conversations with the informant that supported the PGR’s accusation.