The minister asked the president of the (Supreme Federal Court) to be transferred from the First Panel of the court, which judges the coup plot, to the Second.
The judge was that of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and other members of the so-called crucial core of the case, in a trial in which he clashed with colleagues. This Tuesday (21), he was also one of those accused of being part of the group that spread misinformation. All defendants, including the former president, can still present appeals to the First Panel.
Four members of the Supreme Court confirmed to the Sheet that the request was formalized in court.
The movement may change the relationship of forces in the STF. If authorized by the presidency, Fux will go to a collegiate body that currently has ministers Kassio Nunes Marques and André Mendonça, both appointed by Bolsonaro. A trio eventually formed by them could defeat Gilmar Mendes and Dias Toffoli, the two remaining members of the Class, in trials.
In the document in which he makes the transfer request to Edson Fachin, Fux mentions that a vacancy in the Second Panel opened up with the retirement of the minister, who left the court on Saturday (18).
The transfer of ministers between classes is provided for in article 19 of the Supreme Court’s internal regulations. Fux, one of the oldest in Primeira, has preference in the order.
He indicated to colleagues at the Supreme Court that he would like to maintain his participation in the coup plot trials. The First Panel will still analyze the complaint against other groups involved in the attempted coup d’état, and the defenses must present appeals against the convictions.
There is an interpretation by members of the Supreme Court that, even outside the First Panel, Fux would have the right to finalize the judgments of criminal cases in which he has already voted to receive the complaint.
In theory, this interpretation of the rules would allow its continuation in the coup plot trials. The minister would be divided between his duties in the Second Panel and the analysis of the processes pending in the First Panel. A decision on the issue will be made by the President of the Supreme Court, Edson Fachin.
Fux informed his colleagues in the First Panel about his request for change at the end of the trial this Tuesday (21). He said that the exchange of the collegiate was an agreement made with minister Luís Roberto Barroso. “It’s quite common [a mudança]. I always lost in antiquity. As Barroso retired, I had to make this move immediately,” he said.
Fux also stated that he is “available to participate in all trials [da trama golpista]if you like it.” The president of the First Panel, Flávio Dino, said he will submit the case to the president of the Supreme Court, Edson Fachin. “On my part, there is obviously full sympathy,” he said.
Currently, the First Panel has, in addition to Fux, ministers Flávio Dino (president), Cármen Lúcia, Alexandre de Moraes and Cristiano Zanin.
The Second Panel — known as more guarantor, that is, for giving greater weight to the defense arguments — is made up of André Mendonça and Nunes Marques, appointed by Bolsonaro; by Dias Toffoli and the dean of the class, minister Gilmar Mendes, with whom Fux recently had a tough dialogue.
As revealed in the column by journalist Mônica Bergamo, last Wednesday (15), the coup plotter was involved and called him a “regrettable figure”. Fux, in turn, complained that it has been .
The vacancy in the Second Panel would be occupied by the president’s nominee (PT) for Barroso’s vacancy. The chief minister of the (Advocacy-General of the Union), is the most highly rated. The PT member decided to confirm the name for the Supreme Court upon his return from Asia, next week.
This Tuesday, Fux used the beginning of his vote to defend his change of position in the trials regarding the coup plot and January 8th.
“Sometimes, in moments of national commotion, the lenses of Justice are clouded by the symbolic weight of the events and the urgency to offer a quick response that contains political and social instability. At these times, precipitation is disguised as prudence and rigor is confused with firmness”, he said.
Fux said he was convinced of his change after judging several complaints based on a sense of urgency. “Judicial humility is a virtue that, even when late, saves the law from petrification and prevents justice from becoming an accomplice to injustice”, he added.
To facilitate his departure from the group, the minister informed his colleagues that he must release his vote on the judgment on Bolsonaro this Tuesday for compilation by the Judicial Secretariat of the Supreme Court.
he asked last week for the vote to be returned for a grammatical review. The document has 429 pages.
The movement is important because only after all votes have been delivered can the Judicial Secretariat prepare the ruling — the document that formalizes the outcome of the trial.
It is at this stage that the deadline for defenses to present appeals against the decision opens. Any delay could postpone the beginning of the arrests of Bolsonaro and his allies.
