The Supreme Military Court (STM) unanimously rejected, this Wednesday (24), the request from the defense of former president Jair Bolsonaro to declare minister Francisco Joseli Parente Camelo suspect to participate in the trial of the action to lose his position and rank of captain in the Army.
The case was brought to the plenary of the Military Court after the president of the STM, minister Maria Elizabeth Rocha, monocratically rejected a request from Bolsonaro’s defense to declare Parente’s suspicion.
The former president claims that the minister would not be impartial in his trial because of a series of statements made in 2023 in which he mentioned the possibility of sentencing military personnel involved in the 2023 coup acts and other related crimes.
“We will judge with full justice, with full right to defense and contradictory, and if you have actually committed crimes, if you reach us, you will be punished”, said Parente in an interview with UOL that year.
The president of the STM denied Bolsonaro’s defense request on the grounds that the minister’s statements had “support on an elementary logical-legal basis: conviction is a consequence of the determination of criminal liability under the scrutiny of the adversary system”.
Trial of Almir Garnier
The Court also judged this Wednesday an appeal by the former Navy commander, Admiral Almir Garnier, who was also convicted of participation in the attempted coup d’état after the 2022 elections.
The admiral’s defense questions a decision by Minister Verônica Abdalla Sterman, rapporteur of the process, who considered the request for the production of evidence and documentary measures in a process that also deals with the permanence in the officer position to be prejudiced.
In the trial on Tuesday (23), the minister partially changed her decision. She authorized Garnier’s defense to present the written statements from supporting witnesses. Another flexibility was for the Navy to send the functional recordsas performance reviews and the personal praise for Garnier so that they can be added to the process.
Regarding the sharing of evidence by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the minister stated that it will be up to the rapporteur of the coup’s criminal action, minister Alexandre de Moraes, to decide whether to accept Garnier’s request. The minister’s position prevailed with the support of 10 of the 15 ministers. The president of the STM did not vote in this process.
