The First Panel of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) will decide, between November 14th and 25th, whether or not to receive the complaint of coercion against deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP).
If the complaint is received, a criminal action will be opened and, at the end of the process, he can be sentenced to up to four years in prison.
With the opening of a criminal case, the STF has the option of requesting the deputy’s extradition even before the merits of the charges are judged.
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Extradition may be requested not only to serve a sentence, but also for the purpose of investigating the case. The procedures would depend, however, on the collaboration of the Donald Trump government, which sanctioned STF ministers. Visas were canceled and financial restrictions were imposed based on the Magnitsky Act.
Minister Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the case, requested the extradition of expert Eduardo Tagliaferro, his former advisor, in a process at an even less advanced stage, in which the admission of the complaint was not even analyzed, but he is in Italy.
The STF adopted the same procedure in relation to the Bolsonarist deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP), also in Italy, but in her case there are two sentences to serve, for the invasion of the systems of the National Justice Council (CNJ) and for chasing with a gun a supporter of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) on the eve of the second round of the 2022 elections.
Eduardo has been in the United States for eight months. The Federal Police may also request the deputy’s preventive detention to be carried out if he returns to Brazil.
Report must be received
The tendency is for the complaint to be received unanimously in the First Panel of the STF.
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The ministers consider the deputy’s campaign an attempt at intimidation and have already given strong messages that attacks against national sovereignty would not be tolerated.
The decision will be taken by Alexandre de Moraes – who has already declared that the STF would not accept “coercion or obstructions in the exercise of its constitutional mission” -, Flávio Dino, Cármen Lúcia and Cristiano Zanin.
‘Political demonstrations’
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Eduardo did not appoint a lawyer in the case and, therefore, is represented by the Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU).
The DPU sent the deputy’s preliminary defense to the STF last week. The body asks the First Panel of the STF to reject the complaint due to “atypical conduct”, that is, because there is no crime.
Public defender Antônio Ezequiel Inácio Barbosa states in his opinion that the complaint from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) “confuses political demonstration with procedural coercion”.
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“Criminalizing political demonstrations on topics of national interest, especially when made by a member of the National Congress, violates freedom of expression and political pluralism”, argues the defender.
The line of defense is that Eduardo Bolsonaro’s demonstrations, and his campaign in the United States to sanction Brazilian authorities, are part of the political debate and the exercise of the parliamentary mandate.
“Public demonstrations on political issues have a distinct nature from threats aimed at coercing judges”, says an excerpt from the document.
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“In a free country, public statements about foreign policy are subject to democratic debate and public scrutiny. They do not, in themselves, have the intimidating character typical of a serious threat.”
The DPU also states that “magistrates, like all public authorities, are subject to criticism in the democratic debate”, even if “acidic or blunt”.
Finally, the defender argues that the crime of coercion has as a requirement “violence or serious threat” and that the complaint does not describe violent acts by Eduardo nor does it indicate how he would have effective influence to influence the decisions of the American government.
“The complaint does not demonstrate that the accused has the power to implement the consequences that he mentions in his statements. It generally attributes to the accused the ability to ‘obtain’ sanctions from a foreign government, but does not prove that he has effective decision-making power over sovereign acts of the United States”, states the Public Defender’s Office.
Coercion
The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) denounced Eduardo and blogger Paulo Figueiredo for articulating sanctions against the STF in the United States.
According to Attorney General of the Republic Paulo Gonet, the campaign aimed to pressure ministers not to condemn former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for plotting the coup.
For the attorney general, it was proven that Eduardo and Paulo Figueiredo used contacts in the Donald Trump government to “embarrass the jurisdictional performance” of the Federal Supreme Court.
At this time, the First Panel of the STF will analyze the complaint only in relation to Eduardo. The accusations were dismissed because Paulo Figueiredo does not have a registered address in Brazil to be summoned and, therefore, formal notification of the blogger depends on international cooperation, which makes the process slower.
