The CCJ (Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Commission) approved, this Wednesday (10), the loss of mandate of the deputy (-SP), who is imprisoned in Italy, where she is in Brazil.
The score was 32 votes in favor of losing the mandate and 27 against. The case must still be analyzed this Wednesday by the plenary, which has the last word — 257 votes are needed for the loss of mandate to be confirmed.
The PL indicated a vote in favor of Zambelli. The PT, PSOL, PSB, PP, União Brasil and Solidariedade took a stance against it.
The president of the Chamber, (-PB), announced this Tuesday (9), to the surprise of party leaders, that . He also decided that, until recess next week, the House will decide on the impeachments of (PL-SP), Alaxandre Ramagem (PL-RJ) and Glauber Braga (PSOL-RJ).
Within the scope of the CCJ, União Brasil began working to impeach Zambelli, replacing five members in favor of the deputy with names against her.
Behind the scenes, the support of centrão parties for the loss of mandate was understood as a way to compensate for Glauber’s impeachment, which is taken for granted and should be voted on in the plenary this Wednesday. This way, in the opinion of Motta’s allies, there would be a balance in decisions.
The case’s rapporteur, deputy Diego Garcia (Republicanos-PR), was defeated in the vote, but a request for a review (more time for analysis) postponed the vote until this week.
Garcia says he hopes to reverse the result in the plenary and assesses that the arguments against Zambelli were personal and not technical. The parliamentarian is criticized mainly for the episode in 2022.
After Garcia’s defeat, deputy Cláudio Cajado (PP-BA) was appointed rapporteur and presented a new opinion on the loss of mandate.
The deputy participated remotely, and her son was present at the committee. “The justice I ask for today is justice so that Parliament continues to be honored. […] I was the first person who raised my voice against the dictatorship of the Federal Supreme Court”, he said.
The analysis at the CCJ involves the loss of mandate and ten years in prison by the (Supreme Federal Court) for hacking the CNJ (National Council of Justice) system with the help of hacker Walter Delgatti Neto, who was also convicted.
“Deputy Carla Zambelli was convicted without evidence,” said Garcia, in an elated manner. According to the rapporteur, the STF’s only basis is that he was considered a compulsive liar by the Federal Police.
“We are setting a huge precedent against this House of other actions that may occur in the STF following this same guide, […] keeping the evidence confidential, not allowing access to anyone”, stated the deputy.
On other occasions, Garcia said that the process did not guarantee ample defense and that there were signs of political persecution by the STF.
The rapporteur said he was “putting his life into signing the report” and addressed his colleagues trying to convince them. “Today it’s Carla Zambelli, tomorrow it could be Your Excellency. […] We need to stop,” he said.
Zambelli’s defense lawyer, Fabio Pagnozzi, participated in the session and said that the rapporteur’s speech included a good part of what he would say. He admitted, however, that the deputy is not expected to return from Italy anytime soon and, therefore, will not be able to exercise her mandate.
“She hopes not to be impeached so she can give up her mandate with dignity,” said the lawyer.
Fernanda Melchionna (PSOL-RJ) stated that the extreme right wants to review the STF’s decision and that the Chamber continues to spend public funds on a deputy who cannot hold office because she is in prison. “Who is paying this bill?” he asked.
Representative Rubens Pereira Jr. (-MA) presented a separate vote for the loss of his mandate.
This Wednesday, Garcia presented a new report to the CCJ, but no new requests for review are possible. The rapporteur maintained his opinion in favor of Zambelli and emphasized points that had been contested by PT and PSOL deputies.
He responds to Pereira Jr.’s argument that Zambelli could not maintain her mandate because she was sentenced to a ten-year sentence, which necessarily implies the loss of her political rights.
According to the rapporteur, however, the Chamber has the last word “to protect and guarantee that, once political persecution becomes public and evident, this House has the final prerogative to decide”.
“If the logic is that the Chamber plenary suspends a criminal judicial decision, then organized crime will invade the Chamber and the Senate even more. The precedent is extremely dangerous, not against parliamentarians, but against the Federal Constitution”, countered Pereira Jr.
Another argument is that of the leader of the PT, (RJ), who asked the STF to suspend the rite at the CCJ. In the PT member’s understanding, the court’s condemnation of loss of mandate should have been accepted immediately by the Chamber, which Motta did not do.
“The rite adopted was based on the Constitution and internal regulations. Motta was right to send the case to the CCJ”, countered Garcia.
Motta had initially said that the Chamber’s Board would ratify the STF’s order immediately, but sent the case to the CCJ in June.
Since then, the commission has heard testimony from witnesses appointed by Zambelli’s defense and .
She fled the country, passing through Argentina and the United States before landing in Italy. After about two months on the run,.
According to the indictment, Delgatti issued a false arrest warrant against Alexandre de Moraes and said he had done so at the deputy’s request. Zambelli says that he did not help draft the false document and that he only learned about the hacker’s invasion of the CNJ after the fact, when he received the fraudulent files from him.
