The Electoral Court of Paraná decided this Wednesday, 17th, that public demonstrations about the impeachment and possible ineligibility of the former prosecutor and pre-candidate for the Senate Deltan Dallagnol (Novo-PR) do not automatically characterize electoral disinformation nor negative advance propaganda.
The Regional Electoral Court of Paraná analyzed appeals in representations from the Partido Novo against statements about Deltan and changed its understanding to follow the theses of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) on the situation of the former Lava Jato prosecutor.
With this, TRE-PR annulled fines imposed on federal deputy Gleisi Hoffmann (PT-PR) and councilor Pedro Rousseff (PT-MG), in addition to overturning orders to remove content and ban new publications on the topic.
Elected federal deputy in 2022, Dallagnol had his candidacy revoked by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) in May 2023. The Electoral Court interpreted that he requested dismissal from his position at the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) in advance, to prevent administrative proceedings opened against him from progressing to the National Council of the Public Ministry (CNMP) and thus circumvent the ineligibility rules.
In judging the appeals, the judges emphasized that it is not a question of declaring Deltan’s eligibility or ineligibility. “This matter must be examined at its own headquarters, notably during the candidacy registration process”, stated the rapporteur, Adriana de Lourdes Simette.
According to the court’s new position, “the public statement of ineligibility, when linked to the previous decision of the Superior Electoral Court and inserted in a debate of public interest, should not automatically be qualified as electoral disinformation or negative advance propaganda”.
The Electoral Court of Paraná followed the understanding of the STF adopted in four processes that had as their object public statements about Deltan’s electoral situation.
When analyzing them, the Supreme Court decided that preventing publications constituted “manifest censorship” and considered it a “notorious fact” that Deltan lost his mandate. Therefore, the discussion about ineligibility, even if it is only defined at the time of registering the candidacy, would be part of the public discussion environment.
Sentence reform
Gleisi Hoffmann, pre-candidate for the Senate from Paraná, had been sentenced to a fine of R$5,000 for stating in online publications that Deltan was ineligible due to the Electoral Court’s decision. The new decision of the Paraná court understood that the demonstration was supported by public facts and judicial decisions and constitutes a legitimate exercise of freedom of expression in a democratic environment.
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In the case of Pedro Rousseff, Novo’s representation referred to the post in which the Belo Horizonte councilor wrote: “Urgent: TSE has just confirmed the ineligibility of the bastard Deltan Dallagnol. Great day.” According to TRE-PR, despite being “harsh” and “inelegant”, the language used is within the scope of political criticism protected by freedom of expression.
In the session on the 17th, appeals relating to three communication and journalism companies that referred to Deltan as ineligible were also analyzed.
