The minister of the (Supreme Federal Court), gave 15 days for the pastor to present his defense in relation to a complaint for the crimes of slander and insult against the .
The complaint was presented by the Attorney General of the Republic, on December 18, the penultimate day before the Judiciary recess. The case originated from a representation presented by the general against Malafaia.
Malafaia is accused of offending the dignity and decorum of Tomás Paiva during one last year. On Avenida Paulista, from the top of the sound car, the pastor attacked the Army High Command, but did not mention names.
“Where are these four-star generals from the Army’s High Command? Bunch of weaklings, bunch of cowards, bunch of omissions. You don’t honor the uniform you wear. It’s not to launch a coup, no, it’s to make a point,” he stated.
The former president () to press for amnesty for those involved in the coup attacks on January 8, 2023. In September, Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison for attempting a coup d’état and superintending the Federal Police in Brasília.
According to Gonet, Malafaia’s speech offended the generals who make up the High Command, including the Army commander. The prosecutor argues that the pastor also accused the generals of the false crime of malfeasance and even published his speech on social media, in a post with more than 300 thousand views.
On December 20, during the Judiciary’s recess, Moraes ordered that Malafaia be notified and gave a 15-day deadline for defense. The pastor received the notification on December 23.
The recess and collective vacations of STF ministers last until the end of January and, during this period, only urgent cases are decided by the president of the court, Edson Fachin, or his vice president, Alexandre de Moraes.
Gonet forwarded the case to Moraes on the grounds that there was a “strict connection between the conduct reported” and the investigations.
In Malafaia’s understanding, however, such a connection does not exist and the action should be processed in the first instance. “I don’t have the prerogative of a role that would send me to the first instance”, he tells the reporter.
Malafaia also says that he did not offend Tomás Paiva as he does not even mention names. “My speech doesn’t mention anyone’s name. I didn’t mention the name of the Army commander”, he states.
The pastor says he is a victim of persecution by Gonet and Moraes, whom he accuses of exceeding the limits by determining that the defense be presented within 15 days during recess.
“What does an expression of opinion at a demonstration have to do with fake news and digital militia? This is called freedom of expression, which Alexandre de Moraes transformed into a crime of opinion with this immoral and illegal fake news investigation. This is political persecution, it is collusion”, concludes Malafaia.
