The former minister (PSDB), pre-candidate for the government, was condemned by the Electoral Court against the mayor of Cratéus (CE), Janaína Farias (PT).
He directed a series of insults at the PT member in 2024, when she took over as substitute for Camilo Santana, former Minister of Education in the Lula government and Ciro’s rival.
In public statements, the political opponent was called a “courtesan” and “adviser on Camilo Santana’s bedroom matters”.
“Instead of being a bedroom advisor, I will now replace her. She is simply the person who organized Camilo Santana’s parties. That’s what I’m saying”, he stated in , from Fortaleza, in April 2024.
The article of the Electoral Code in which Ciro was included is 326-B, which establishes a penalty of one year and four months in prison, plus payment of a fine, for anyone who “harasses, embarrasses, humiliates, persecutes or threatens a candidate for an elected position or holder of a mandate, using contempt or discrimination against the condition of a woman or her color, race or ethnicity, with the purpose of preventing or hindering the electoral campaign or the performance of the mandate”.
The sentence, of one year and four months of imprisonment, was replaced by judge Edson Feitosa dos Santos Filho himself, from the 115th Electoral Zone of Ceará, with the payment of 20 minimum wages to Janaína and 50 minimum wages to Ceará entities protecting women’s rights. The defense can appeal.
In his defense, Ciro denied the sexist intention of his statements and claimed that the mentions made about the then senator were an example of what he calls “Mr.’s patrimonialism.”
According to him, the former minister was the real target of his speeches. To the Electoral Court, he also said that he always gave space to women in his terms as mayor and governor.
Janaína called the conviction a victory for women. “I was a victim, like so many women in this country, and the decision is a relief. We can never relativize misogyny.”
She stated that she will donate the amounts stipulated by the Electoral Court to entities linked to the protection of women’s rights.
At the time of the offenses, the Senate’s women’s bench asked for a lawsuit against the former governor of Ceará, calling his speech about the senator sexist, prejudiced and violent.
“These attacks are disgusting and absolutely unacceptable, reflecting a personal stance of devaluing women and a worrying resistance to female participation in spaces of power and decision-making”, says an excerpt from the document.
In 2002, the presidential candidate stated that one of the roles in the electoral campaign of his then wife, actress Patrícia Pillar, was . The episode earned Ciro a lot of criticism, calling him sexist. Twenty years later, the actress claimed to have , for whom she declared “great admiration and respect”.
