The (Superior Court of Justice) decided this Wednesday (4), unanimously, to open an inquiry to investigate the accusation of sexual harassment against minister Marco Aurélio Buzzi.
The full court met in an extraordinary session to decide on the initiation of its own investigation.
After the decision, the magistrates also selected the members of the commission that will be responsible for the case: ministers Raul Araújo, Isabel Gallotti and Antônio Carlos Ferreira.
In a statement, the minister stated that “he was surprised by the content of the insinuations published by a website, which do not correspond to the facts”. He also says that he repudiates “any and all conclusions that he committed an improper act.”
At the (Federal Supreme Court), the minister was selected as the rapporteur of the complaint.
According to the Penal Code, art. 215-A, referring to the conduct of sexual harassment, deals with “performing a libidinous act against someone and without their consent with the aim of satisfying one’s own lust or that of a third party”.
In this case, a young woman claims that the magistrate harassed her during the January holidays, on a beach in (SC).
The investigation is expected to be completed within 30 days. After that, the plenary will decide on the possible compulsory retirement of the minister — this is the most serious punishment for a magistrate.
The extraordinary session of the STJ lasted around three hours. Buzzi participated in the first half and made his save. He denied the accusation and stated that it was a public place and that the episode could never have happened.
Court ministers interviewed under reserve demonstrate an unfavorable climate towards Buzzi. One member stated that the atmosphere was “terrible” and another said that it was “indignant”.
The girl’s lawyer mother is considered a respected person in the legal community.
In Brasília, the young woman’s mother sought out ministers from the STJ in recent days. Upon learning of the case, Minister Mauro Campbell, national inspector of justice, sought contact with the mother.
A commission of female ministers also went to the president of the court, Herman Benjamin, to ask for action after hearing the account of the episode from the young woman’s mother. One of them said that both mother and minister cried when talking about what happened.
The young woman’s family contacted ministers from the STJ and the (National Council of Justice), but, as it was the investigation of a crime attributed to an authority with jurisdiction by function prerogative, the case was taken to the Supreme Court.
At the CNJ, the administrative part of the investigation will be processed, at the National Justice Inspectorate. It is there that eventual punishment such as retirement would be defined. Due to the seriousness of the conduct, the minister would be subject to suspension or compulsory retirement, if the act was proven.
If the understanding is that there was a less serious failure, he may receive a warning or censure.
According to the complaint, the young woman went to take a swim when the minister was already in the water. He would have tried to grab her. She would have let go and narrated the situation to her parents right away. The family left the minister’s house and registered a police report.
Buzzi has been at the STJ since 2011, when he took office following a nomination by then president Dilma Rousseff (PT). The minister is part of the Fourth Panel, focused on private law conflicts.
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