The (Brazilian Bar Association) asked the (Supreme Federal Court) this Monday (23) to end the fake news investigation and contested the maintenance of what it called heterodox investigations of a “perpetual nature” in the court.
The position is contained in a statement sent to the president of the Supreme Court, minister, and signed by the Federal Council of the OAB and the College of Presidents of the state Sectional Councils.
In the letter, the entity expresses concern about the “permanence and legal conformation of long-term investigations, especially Inquiry No. 4,781, widely known as the fake news inquiry.”
The Order says it recognizes that the procedure was born in an exceptional context, including from the point of view of the process. It was initiated ex officio, that is, without provocation from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, having been the subject of debate and then validated.
“[Mas] Precisely because it is an extraordinary institutional solution, designed to respond to equally extraordinary circumstances, its management and permanence over time require even greater caution”, states the OAB.
The fake investigation was initiated by the then president of the court, to investigate the dissemination of disinformation and attacks against the STF and court ministers. On that occasion, rapporteur was appointed without there being a draw.
“Inquiry No. 4,781, opened in March 2019, is approaching seven years of processing, which, in itself, recommends careful examination from the perspective of the reasonable duration of the procedures and the necessary delimitation of their object”, continues the OAB.
The entity criticizes the “excessive elasticity” of the object of the investigation, arguing that the rule in Brazil is to focus on specific facts, “and not a procedure open to the successive absorption of different behaviors, according to new connections”.
