The judicial processes that Bolsonaro may face now that he is no longer president of Brazil

When leaving the position of president of Brazil this Sunday, Jair Bolsonaro he lost the right to special jurisdiction popularly known as privileged. This means that you can now respond to processes in common justice.

While Bolsonaro was president, the privileged jurisdiction guaranteed that he would only be subject to criminal investigations with the authorization of the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

SIGHT: The lapidary phrases of Lula da Silva against Bolsonaro in his inauguration speech as president of Brazil

In addition, he could only be denounced to justice by the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), with prior authorization from the Chamber of Deputies, and the STF was the only court that could judge him.

Now, instead, Bolsonaro can answer again before common justice and any prosecutor can present charges against him, which will be analyzed by first instance judges.

Bolsonaro faces different investigations authorized by the Supreme while he was president and accusations of crimes made by a parliamentary commission that were being investigated by the Attorney General’s Office.

Bolsonaro has lost the privilege of being tried only by the Supreme Court. (EPA).

Most likely now, these processes will be referred to common justice, except for those that involve people who maintain a privileged jurisdiction, which can continue in higher courts or be separated according to the legal protection of each person.

When Bolsonaro’s special jurisdiction ends, the Federal Police can investigate him without authorization from the Supreme Court, the investigations carried out by the Attorney General’s Office pass to lower levels of the Public Ministry and the processes in the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) go to courts in the regions where there were suspicions.

Bolsonaro too lost the right to be defended by the General Advocacy of the Union Y you will need to hire a private attorney.

Below is a summary of the four investigations authorized by the Supreme Court involving the former president:

Falsehoods about the anticovid vaccine

One of the crimes that a parliamentary investigative commission on the covid attributed to Bolsonaro is the dissemination of false news about the vaccine against the virus.

The request to investigate it arose after the then president read false news in a live broadcast on social networks, in October 2021.

The misleading news said that people vaccinated against covid in the UK were “developing acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)”, which is not true.

In the same broadcast, Bolsonaro cited false news about the use of masks.

The covid-19 pandemic has killed more than 690,000 people in Brazil. (REUTERS).

With the supervision of the Supreme Court, the Federal Police investigated Bolsonaro’s actions and concluded that they fit into the crime of public incitement to commit a crimesince they could encourage viewers to disobey mandatory health regulations at that time.

Alexandre de Moraes, Minister of the Supreme Court, sent a request to indict Bolsonaro in August to the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, who never filed the complaint against the president.

Bolsonaro justified his attitude in an interview on Jovem Pan radio.

“I showed an article. I did not invent it. Now saying anything about vaccines has become a crime,” criticized the then president.

With the loss of privileged jurisdiction, the case ceases to be the responsibility of the Attorney General’s Office and the Public Ministry could send it to justice.

Disclosure of confidential data

Bolsonaro is also being investigated for the disclosure of data from a confidential investigation into attacks on the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE).

The data was revealed by Bolsonaro and Deputy Filipe Barros with the participation of a Federal Police delegate.

Bolsonaro and his supporters have been critical of the work of the Brazilian Supreme Court. (GETTY IMAGES).

According to the TSE, the objective of the leak would be to contribute to a fraudulent narrative about the electoral process“attributing, without evidence or evidence, a doubtful character about the smoothness of the voting system in Brazil.”

In February, a Federal Police delegate in charge of the investigation indicated to the Supreme Court that Bolsonaro committed a crime of violation of functional secrecy.

Protected by privileged jurisdiction, Bolsonaro has not been denounced in this case, since the Attorney General’s Office requested the file.

However, if the Supreme Court decides that it is not appropriate to maintain the process there due to the loss of jurisdiction, Bolsonaro could be accused by the Federal Police and denounced by the Public Ministry before the ordinary courts.

Investigation on ‘fake news’

Bolsonaro was included in August 2021 in the so-called “investigation of the fake news“, about falsehoods and threats against ministers of the Supreme Court.

The case is linked to another investigation into actions of digital militias to attack Brazilian democracy.

The inclusion of Bolsonaro in the case occurred at the request of the Superior Electoral Court after Bolsonaro publicly question the reliability of the electoral process.

Alexandre de Moraes, minister of that court, attributed to the then president “a speech of hate and contrary to the Institutions, the Rule of Law and Democracy.”

Alexandre de Moraes, president of the Superior Electoral Court and Brazilian Supreme Court minister, has been involved in some of the cases involving Bolsonaro. (REUTERS).

The case must follow its reserved course in the Supreme Court.

However, if Bolsonaro were indicted from now on, there would be no need for the participation of the Attorney General’s Office either.

The former president has criticized the investigation into false news saying that it is illegal, because it works without the participation of the Public Ministry.

“Alexandre de Moraes opened a lie investigation, accusing me of being a liar. It is a very serious accusation. Even more so in an investigation without a legal basis. It cannot start with him. Does he open, investigate and punish? No comment,” Bolsonaro said in Jovem Pan radio.

Undue interference in the Federal Police

This investigation was opened after complaints by Bolsonaro’s former Justice Minister (and now senator-elect) Sergio Moro, who, upon leaving office in 2020, stated that the then president tried to interfere unduly in the actions of the Federal Police.

Bolsonaro denied the alleged interference and told TV Globo that he delivered a tape about the government meeting where the events occurred.

“They found nothing,” he said.

Sergio Moro, a former judge and former Minister of Justice, said that Bolsonaro tried to interfere in the actions of the Federal Police. (REUTERS).

The Attorney General’s Office ruled out that there is sufficient evidence against Bolsonaro to charge him with a crime and requested the file.

But the Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to file the case, which, if it remains open, can go to ordinary justice.

Crimes investigated for the commission of covid

In addition to the investigations in the Supreme Court, Bolsonaro has accusations against him due to the final report of the Senate investigative commission on the covid crisis.

These accusations were being investigated by the Attorney General’s Office and his boss Augusto Aras, seen as an ally of Bolsonaro, never turned them into a complaint.

In fact, The Attorney General’s Office asked the Supreme Court to file eight of the 10 inquiries preliminaries for possible crimes.

Among them is the accusation of having caused an epidemic resulting in death (on suspicion of spreading the virus); quackery (for encouraging the use of ineffective drugs); of violating preventive sanitary measures (for holding crowds and not wearing a mask); irregular use of public funds (for the purchase of ineffective drugs) and prevarication (for allegedly not ordering the investigation of allegations of corruption in the purchase of vaccines).

The report of the parliamentary covid commission recommended imputing the president for his management of the coronavirus crisis. (SENATE AGÊNCIA).

Bolsonaro said at the time that the parliamentary commission did not do anything “productive” and only generated “hate and resentment.” He denied any fault and maintained that the government did “the right thing from the start.”

With the loss of Bolsonaro’s jurisdiction, the Supreme Court will decide whether to send the investigations related to common justice, although they could continue in the highest court if they involve other investigated persons who maintain special jurisdictions.

In the event that the file goes to ordinary justice, a prosecutor will decide whether to file a complaint and a first degree judge will define whether to open criminal proceedings against Bolsonaro.

Actions that could make you ineligible

Bolsonaro also responds to 12 actions in the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) for alleged crimes against the Brazilian electoral system.

With the loss of jurisdiction, it is possible that these actions are sent to the electoral courts of the regions where the crimes were committed.

However, it is also possible that justice understands that the jurisdiction to judge some of these actions continues to be the TSE.

Bolsonaro faces an uncertain future after leaving the presidency of Brazil. (Reuters).

An indictment indicates that the then president and General Braga Netto committed abuse of political power and improper use of the media by holding an event for foreign ambassadors in June 2022, broadcast by TV Brasil, where Bolsonaro attacked the electoral system and authorities of the Judiciary.

At that time, the Presidency indicated in a statement that Bolsonaro held a meeting with heads of diplomatic missions to exchange ideas on the electoral process.

If he were convicted by the electoral courts in any of the 12 actions, Bolsonaro would be ineligible for public office.

incitement to crime

Before being president, Bolsonaro was already charged in two criminal proceedings for incitement to the crime of rape and for insulting federal deputy Maria do Rosário, of the leftist Workers Party (PT).

In December 2014, Bolsonaro verbally attacked the deputy, telling her: “I wouldn’t rape you because you don’t deserve it.”

In the process for libel, Bolsonaro was sentenced to pay compensation and apologize.

But the criminal action for alleged incitement to rape was halted in 2019 because, being president, Bolsonaro could not be held responsible during his term for acts committed previously.

Now that he has left office, the action is being activated again in the courts and the former president could be sentenced to detention for three to six months, a sentence that is normally converted into a fine.

During the process, Bolsonaro and his lawyers claimed that he was exercising his parliamentary mandate when he said those recorded words, and therefore the Constitution guarantees him parliamentary immunity.

Source: Elcomercio