President of the STM says tolerance to abuse paved the way for January 8th

The president of the Superior Military Court (STM), Maria Elizabeth Rocha, stated that the attacks on the headquarters of the Three Powers, on January 8, 2023, were the result of a gradual process of toleration of behaviors that, according to her, violated the democratic order.

In an interview published by Folha de S.Paulo this Sunday (21), the minister said that the acts cannot be analyzed as an isolated episode.

For Maria Elizabeth, there was a succession of permissiveness that allowed the escalation of speeches and actions that culminated in the invasion and depredation of institutions in Brasília. “The 8th of January arrived because we let it pass, what was intolerable was tolerated”, he declared.

The judge also stated that the attacks involved both protesters dissatisfied with the political scenario and people who, in her assessment, acted in an organized manner to encourage institutional disruption.

According to her, some of those involved were fully aware of the consequences of their actions and participated in a deliberate coordination.

The statements come as the STM analyzes processes that could result in the loss of rank of Armed Forces officers convicted by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) for participating in the coup plot. Among the cases under analysis are those of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), generals Augusto Heleno, Braga Netto and Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, as well as admiral Almir Garnier.

Maria Elizabeth highlighted that the role of the STM in these processes is not to review criminal convictions already imposed by the STF. According to her, the jurisdiction of the Military Court is restricted to evaluating whether officers remain in the military career.

“We are judging decorum and whether the soldier is capable of continuing to wear the uniform,” he stated. According to the minister, the procedures function as judgments of a disciplinary and institutional nature, aimed at analyzing military honor and the compatibility of the defendants’ conduct with their career duties.

The first woman to join the STM, Maria Elizabeth Rocha was appointed to the court in 2007 by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). Currently, he occupies the presidency of the Court responsible for judging issues related to the Union’s Military Justice.