BRAZIL · POLITICS
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court sent a court officer to the home of Júlia Zanatta, a federal deputy (member of the lower house of Congress), in Criciúma, in the southern state of Santa Catarina, at about 8 p.m. local time on Saturday 14 November 2026. The summons came from the office of Justice André Mendonça and relates to a criminal complaint by a lawyer whom Zanatta called a “petista roxo”, a die-hard supporter of the Workers’ Party (PT) of President Lula.
Zanatta, a conservative lawmaker from the Liberal Party (PL), the party of former president Jair Bolsonaro, calls the case “judicial harassment”. No decision by the court on the complaint has been reported.
Key Facts
- Who Júlia Zanatta, a conservative federal deputy from Santa Catarina state and a member of the Liberal Party (PL).
- What A court officer delivered a Supreme Federal Court summons to her home on Saturday 14 November.
- Why A lawyer filed a criminal complaint after she called him a “petista roxo”, a die-hard Workers’ Party supporter.
- Court The summons came from the office of Justice André Mendonça; acceptance of the complaint has not been reported.
- Power Index Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 74.2 points (November 2026 edition).
What Happened on Saturday Night
The delivery was filmed by Zanatta’s husband, Guilherme Colombo, a Liberal Party politician elected a state deputy in October, and posted on social media. In the recording the officer says she works for the federal judiciary, says the summons follows an order from Mendonça’s office and asks whether the deputy wants to reach a settlement.
Zanatta then posted her own video, saying in Portuguese that “a petista sued me in the Supreme Court” because she called him a “petista roxo” (our translation). She called the case “instrumentalisation of justice” and “judicial harassment”, and said such a trivial matter should not reach the country’s highest court.
What a Criminal Complaint Means Here
A “queixa-crime” is a criminal complaint filed directly by a private person, rather than by prosecutors, for offences that the law lets the injured party pursue. Brazil’s Constitution (Article 102) gives the Supreme Federal Court the job of trying federal deputies for common criminal offences, so complaints against them are generally filed there.
Before a complaint is accepted, a justice can ask both sides whether they want to settle, and the officer’s question about a settlement points to that step. Accepting the complaint would be a separate decision, and nothing reported so far says the court has taken it.
Why It Matters
The case tests where a lawmaker’s protected speech ends. Brazil’s Constitution (Article 53) says deputies are inviolable for their opinions, words and votes, and it is for the court to decide whether a social-media remark about a private lawyer falls under that cover.
Mendonça, appointed to the court in 2021 by then-president Jair Bolsonaro, is the justice whose office issued the order. Zanatta belongs to Bolsonaro’s conservative camp and says the case misuses the courts for politics, a claim the court has not answered.
What It Means for You
For readers outside Brazil this is a small procedural step, not a ruling, and no direct US consequence is apparent. It shows how Brazilian politics now moves through the Supreme Federal Court even for a quarrel about a single phrase.
What Is Not Known
We have not confirmed the case on the court’s public docket, and the court has issued no public statement that we found. The lawyer’s side, the offence he alleges and any date for a decision or a settlement meeting are not confirmed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Júlia Zanatta summoned by the Supreme Court?
A lawyer filed a criminal complaint after she called him a “petista roxo”. A court officer delivered the summons to her home in Criciúma on Saturday 14 November 2026.
What does “petista roxo” mean?
“Petista” is a supporter of the Workers’ Party (PT), and “roxo” means purple, here a die-hard one. Zanatta used it as a political label for the lawyer.
Is Zanatta charged with a crime?
No acceptance of the complaint has been reported. The summons is a procedural step, and a justice decides separately whether the complaint goes ahead.
Who is André Mendonça?
Mendonça is a justice of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court, appointed in 2021 by then-president Jair Bolsonaro. The summons came from his office.
Sources: Júlia Zanatta’s video statements and the recording of the delivery, posted 14–15 Nov 2026; Constitution of Brazil, Articles 53 and 102. More: Brazil news; Who Is Julia Zanatta?; Mendonça to Rule on Lula Bank Records Plea; Latin America Power Index.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error
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