The Brazilian Superior Electoral Court on Thursday began hearing a case that could torpedo the political future of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro by rendering him ineligible for public office for eight years.
Judges are evaluating a case filed by the Brazilian Democratic Labor Party, which has said the far-right leader abused his power by using government communication channels to promote his campaign and cast unfounded doubts on the country’s electronic voting system.
Although Bolsonaro often railed against the voting system, the suit’s focus is a meeting on July 18 last year that Bolsonaro convened at the presidential palace with foreign ambassadors, which was broadcast on state television for nearly an hour.
Photo: AFP
Thursday’s session in the capital, Brasilia, began with Judge Benedito Goncalves reading his report on the case.
Bolsonaro’s lawyer, Tarcisio Vieira de Carvalho, told judges the case was “riddled with ideological falsehood.”
Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes suspended the session after about three hours, before any judge had cast a vote, citing time and scheduled obligations at the Supreme Court.
Two subsequent sessions have been slated for Tuesday and Thursday next week, but the trial could extend for several months if any of the judges request additional time to review the case.
Bolsonaro on Wednesday told reporters outside the Senate that he could be barred from public office, but he denied any wrongdoing.
Mackenzie University political science professor Rodrigo Prandoin said the evidence against Bolsonaro was robust.
“Bolsonaro speaks in live broadcasts, on Twitter. I never saw anyone provide so much material against himself as Bolsonaro did,” he said.
In his report on the case, Electoral Court Prosecutor Paulo Gonet Branco recommended barring Bolsonaro from public office.
The report would be analyzed by the court’s panel, which is comprised of judges from Brazil’s top courts, the Supreme Court and the Superior Court of Justice, as well as two appointees.
Branco’s report says that Bolsonaro misled voters about a Brazilian Federal Police investigation into the 2018 elections to claim the voting system is not reliable, and that he presented that information to ambassadors in the meeting last year.
The Supreme Court is simultaneously investigating Bolsonaro for having shared details of that investigation — a case proceeding under seal.
“I would like to remain 100 percent active in politics, and taking away my political rights, which in my opinion is an affront, you lose a little bit of that fuel,” Bolsonaro wrote in comments on his YouTube channel on Thursday.
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