In recent years, the federal government has made at least 57 requests for investigation into alleged crimes against the honor of the president (PT), including episodes in which people shouted “Lula the thief” in the streets and the case of a soldier who named a Wi-Fi network with the same phrase.
The investigations also focused on two montages published on social networks showing the PT member being called “Zé Pilantra” and dressed as Zé Pilintra, an important entity in African-based religions.
The president himself demanded an investigation into an audio sent in a WhatsApp group by a woman who threatened to “take a gun and shoot him all over.” At least 20 investigations were opened in 2023, 12 the following year and 25 in 2025. The details of the cases are confidential.
An investigation was also opened against a woman who approached Lula’s house in São Paulo, in December 2024, with posters criticizing the president and the minister, of the (Supreme Federal Court).
When approached by Federal Police agents, she called one of them a “monkey”. She was denounced by the Federal Public Ministry for racial slurs.
Part of the investigations into offenses against the president have already been archived.
One of them concerns an influencer’s statement that Lula “embezzled more than R$1 trillion”. The Public Prosecutor’s Office said that the then candidate for mayor of São Paulo made political criticisms, which would be different from “slandering, defaming or hurting the honor of others”.
In October, the Federal Court closed a police investigation against six members of the group who recorded videos and shouted “Lula, thief, you belong in prison” while in Osasco (SP).
In this case, the MPF said that the context of “profound political tension” in the country requires observing the “proportionality of the measures”.
In the four years of government (PL), the Ministry of Justice requested 16 investigations into possible crimes against the president’s honor.
Furthermore, other cases of greater repercussion in the National Security Law, such as the case against a teacher who installed two billboards in Palmas (TO) saying that the former president
The PF said, in response to a request made via the Access to Information Law, that 106 investigations were opened from 2019 to 2021 for crimes under the National Security Law, but did not specify how many targeted possible offenses against Bolsonaro.
One of the investigations opened at the request of the Lula government based on the Penal Code chapter on crimes against honor targets Bolsonaro. The case, which began in July, involves a message he allegedly shared on WhatsApp linking Lula to the former dictator of and the execution of LGBTQIA+ people.
It is up to us to request an investigation into possible attacks on the honor of the President of the Republic. Suspicions come to the portfolio in different ways, such as through reports made to the police and the Public Ministry, as well as situations in which the president’s own security team detects the cases.
In a note, the ministry headed by states that it evaluates the “convenience and opportunity of requesting the promotion of criminal action”.
“In short, the ministerial request has the function of authorizing the free performance of constitutional and legal powers by the institutions of the Brazilian Criminal Persecution System”, says the ministry.
The Ministry of Justice did not respond whether it observed the relevance of the episodes before requesting an investigation. The report also asked for, and did not receive, examples of cases that advanced to indictment or denunciation.
‘Zé Pilantra’ and ‘Lula thief’
One of the investigations into the montage that calls Lula “Zé Pilantra” was processed by several bodies, from July 2024 to December of the following year, when it was archived.
The investigation began with a complaint made on the Dial 100 virtual channel about possible religious intolerance. In December, the Public Ministry of the Federal District and Territories sent the matter to the Ministry of Justice as it understood that the target of the montages would be the president, not African-based religions.
The image shows a person kneeling in front of the figure with Lula’s face, with the message “Do not cover the IPVA of my Celt, Zé Pilantra”.
Six days later, Lewandowski asked for an investigation to be opened. The investigations were carried out by teams from two states. In the case of Mato Grosso do Sul, to which the report had access, the agents heard the man who shared the image. He said he works as a painter, is conservative and critical of the left, but that he had no intention of attacking any religion.
At the end of November, the MPF closed the police investigation, stating that the President of the Republic is subject to greater exposure and scrutiny from society, “and must have greater tolerance for criticism and demands”.
The Prosecutor’s Office also said that the publication had a political nature, with the aim of criticizing or demonstrating opposition to the president, not to harm his honor. The court confirmed the filing days later.
Another investigation emerged in August, when Lula’s security team noticed a Wi-Fi network named “Lula Ladrão” during a meeting at the 17th Jungle Infantry Brigade, in Porto Velho (RO), which was discussing the security of an event with the president.
The signal would have come from the cell phone of a military police officer, who was asked to leave the scene given the “offensive and potentially damaging connotation to Lula’s image”, according to the PF document.
A Sheet also located three other cases in which the government ordered investigations into people who had shouted “Lula the thief” near the car or place where the president was.
In one of them, the PF took note of the license plate and went to the house of the woman who cursed the president with a microphone, from inside an Audi, in Alto de Pinheiros, an upscale neighborhood in São Paulo. Later, she went to the police station and said she was “taken by impulse”, that she “never thought it would be a problem” and that she was sorry.
The president’s security also approached a man who allegedly called the president a “thief” when he stuck his head out of a vehicle in Contagem (MG). He denied the offense, but was taken to the PF Superintendency in Minas Gerais, where he stated that “people were pissed” about the traffic caused by Lula’s convoy.
“I just shouted ‘GO, FUCK, LET’S GET ON WITH THIS’, but I didn’t swear at anyone, I didn’t call anyone a thief or any other name, I just shouted to get it over with, because I’m painting and repairing the house I’m moving to tomorrow, I was in a hurry,” the man told the agents, according to the PF document.
