Jair Bolsonaro addresses the press on June 29 in Rio de Janeiro. Associated Press/LaPresse
More than 10,000 people watched the trial of Brazilian right-wing leader and former President Ultra Jair Bolsonaro for abuse of power on the official channel of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE). The hearing, in which the accused did not take part, was adjourned this afternoon and will resume next Friday at 12 noon. So far, four of the seven judges that make up the court have cast their votes. Those who are enthusiastic about Brazilian politics follow it as if it were a party. After today’s meeting, the result is 3-1 in favor of disqualifying Bolsonaro, which would exclude him from the elections until 2030. Even the defendant has admitted that the case will most likely end in a conviction.
The allegation of abuse of power stems from a meeting Bolsonaro called with the diplomatic corps three months before the last elections in Brasilia. In front of dozens of foreign diplomats, the then Brazilian head of state attacked the electoral process and, without providing any evidence, questioned the guarantees of a fair vote and count.
Bolsonaro, who is very afraid of ending up in prison, does not risk imprisonment in this case, although he faces other allegations involving such punishment. This is the first case in which one of the cases investigated against him has reached a court. The penalty is eight years disqualification from participation in the elections. If convicted, he can appeal to the Electoral Tribunal or the Supreme Court. The far-right himself recalled this morning that Congress could grant him an amnesty if the judges curtailed his electoral career. “The amnesty is provided for in the democratic regime and the parliament decides,” he explained.
Along with him is retired General Walter Braga Netto, who was his vice presidential nominee in last October’s elections, on the same charge. So far four judges have voted and all four are in favor of an acquittal.
With one more vote for Bolsonaro’s conviction, there would be a majority that would disqualify him. And that’s the most likely scenario tomorrow, Friday, when the hearing begins and the next togada is voted on. But the far-right ex-president and his supporters still hope that one of the judges he has appointed will ask for a break to analyze the documents and arguments more closely before passing his verdict. This type of pause, common in Brazil’s supreme courts, is of unpredictable duration. It can take weeks, months or sometimes years.
The judges came to the hearing this Thursday with the first and overwhelming majority for the investigating judge, which was handed in just before midnight on Tuesday. Following his verdict, the session was adjourned to this morning. And this Thursday, when it resumed, the first vote was for the former president’s acquittal. This judge argued, Efe reports, that the courts must have “a minimum level of interference” in the electoral process and that the electoral court was not created to “revoke mandates.” At the moment Bolsonaro is only opposition leader, he has no seat. On the day Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office, he lost his immunity. Two other judges have since voted to exclude him from the upcoming elections. Bolsonaro’s political destiny rests in the hands of the three judges who have yet to vote.
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