The regional electoral prosecutor of , Paulo Taubemblatt, stated, at an event this Friday (8) that the Public Ministry is taking different measures to combat the influence of the elections, but considered, on the other hand, that the electoral process is too short to solve a problem of this complexity.
“The electoral process takes place in two months, practically [considerando até o primeiro turno]. And there is no time to solve the problem of organized crime in two months,” he said.
The statement was made at the closing table of the 3rd São Paulo Congress of Electoral Law, held by the OAB-SP (Brazilian Bar Association, São Paulo section), which was attended by the president of the TRE-SP (Regional Electoral Court of São Paulo), Encinas Manfré.
The debate, which had as its theme the fight against organized crime in this year’s elections, was mediated by lawyer Ricardo Vita Porto, president of the OAB-SP electoral law commission, and also had the participation of the São Paulo prosecutor.
Taubemblatt stated that crime is a problem and that working groups are being formed and that one of the tasks is to map out, together with electoral prosecutors, the diagnosis of the situation across the country.
In addition, he also mentioned having requested support from the Federal Police to identify obscure campaign financing.
Judge Manfré, in turn, stated that TRE-SP is applying the guidelines of the (Superior Electoral Court) and that there are two fronts of action: “Preventing the infiltration of organized crime agents in public institutions and ensuring citizens’ freedom to vote”.
He also stated that there are different phases in which it can act, one of them being the moment of registration of candidacy, in which the eligibility requirements of each candidate are analyzed, and the subsequent moment in which actions of abuse of power are processed, for example.
Manfré also pointed out the processes of the last municipal elections related to candidates with signs of involvement with organized crime and highlighted that the analysis will be case by case. He also said that any interference by Justice, in the sense of denying records, will only occur if there is evidence.
The Electoral Court in Rio barred candidates from the municipal election, even without collegial conviction, to contain the infiltration of militias and criminal factions. This year, as shown by Sheetalso for this purpose, signed by the court.
At this Friday’s event, the topic had been the subject of questioning by lawyer Ricardo Vita Porto, who asked whether such precedents would not exist and, thus, violating the principle of contradictory and broad defense
Taubemblatt, when talking about the subject, said that the TSE, in the Rio cases, ended up making a more objective reading than what had been done by the Rio de Janeiro Courts.
He argued that, instead of denying the candidacy request based on morality and the candidates’ previous lives, the high court was based on an article that deals with an armed criminal organization – similar to a paramilitary organization.
“The Judiciary applies rules. So we are not here to make law, to do justice. We are here to say: ‘Here there is a reason for ineligibility, we apply it. Here there is not, we do not apply it'”, said the prosecutor. “This decision by the TSE is pragmatic, but for better or worse, it is based on an objective concept.”
