On Wednesday, Aug. 24, the Brazilian electoral justice ordered that the video of the official meeting in which the president detailed his suspicions about the electronic ballot boxes before foreign ambassadors accredited in Brasilia be removed in the next 24 hours from Facebook, YouTube, the rest of social networks and the state television channel ECB.
You can download this censored video here from our servers with English subtitles.
The Superior Electoral Court judge who signs the ruling argues that the president’s words before dozens of foreign diplomats a month ago “seem to configure abuse in the exercise of freedom of expression”.
The magistrate adds in his argumentation that the content of that appearance may affect the development of the elections, called for October 2, by “disseminating false information” related to the voting system.
There are about 40 days left for Brazil to elect a president, governors, federal and state deputies, and senators.
The decision of the Electoral Justice came in the middle of the electoral campaign, and the day after, the same court ordered to search the houses and offices of eight pro-Bolsonaro business people suspected of participating in a private chat room in which pro-coup messages were exchanged.
The Brazilian press claims that the operation is intended to prevent the financing of acts in favor of an institutional rupture on September 7, when Brazil celebrates the bicentenary of its independence, and the president has encouraged his supporters to demonstrate in Rio de Janeiro.
Legal experts consulted by the Brazilian press believe that the judges may have gone too far in this case. (The climax of the celebrations is the public exhibition in Brasilia of the heart of Emperor Pedro I, who made Brazil independent. Portugal has lent the relic).
The struggle between the president of the Republic and the judges has been going on for a long time. It is punctuated by clashes that raise the tension, decreasing until the next onslaught.
Last week, coinciding with the start of the electoral campaign for the most polarized elections in recent times, the highest representatives of the three powers gathered in Brasilia for the inauguration of the new president of the Superior Electoral Court.
Bolsonaro, as head of state, presided over the ceremony, which was attended by Lula da Silva and other former presidents. The leftist allegedly leads all polls so far.
That event was seen as a sign that “Brazil’s institutions are solid and committed to the rule of law,” said days later the Supreme Court Justice Jose Antonio Dias Toffoli, together with two ministers of the Bolsonaro government and the president of the Senate at a forum organized by Esfera Brasil, a think tank created by prominent businessmen.
Bolsonaro’s meeting with the ambassadors was unprecedented because he summoned them to detail his doubts about the voting process and to question the electoral authorities.
And what distinguished that one from the rest of the forums in which the president has explained and detailed the flaws in the Brazilian electoral system was the audience, foreign diplomats.
Precisely the same ones that days before had been summoned by the electoral tribunal to explain to them how the electronic ballot boxes work.
The electronic ballot box system with which Brazil has been voting for a quarter of a century is one of the central issues of the October 2 elections.
Bolsonaro favors the cleanliness and transparency of the elections that, for his critics, is an effort aimed at undermining the credibility of the electronic ballot boxes to be able to contest the result in case of defeat.
However, the electoral tribunal acts very suspiciously regarding the electronic ballot boxes because they are unwilling to provide any auditable receipt or printed proof of the vote registered by these machines.
They want the Brazilian population to rely solely on their words and verbal guarantees that the system is flawless. Whenever questioned, they feel attacked and censor any information contrary to their interests, like someone hiding something.
You can download this censored video here from our servers with English subtitles.