Brazil: Former Rio de Janeiro state governor regains political rights

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – An injunction signed by the president of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Judge Humberto Martins, restored the political rights of the former governor of Rio de Janeiro state, Anthony Garotinho.

He intends to return to the post he held from 1999 to 2002 and is a pre-candidate for União Brasil in this year’s elections. The legends must register their candidacies until August 15, and the first round takes place on October 2.

In 2018, Garotinho had a conviction for administrative misconduct confirmed in a second instance. He was judged for participation in a scheme to divert resources from the State Health Secretariat between 2005 and 2006, a period when his wife, Rosinha Garotinho, governed the state of Rio.

At the time, Garotinho was secretary of government. The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Rio de Janeiro denounced the irregularities, and the case went to the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro.

Based on this conviction, the former governor was included in the Ficha Limpa law (“Clean Record law”) and prevented from running for the elections in 2018. Since then, Garotinho’s defense had filed appeals, including to the STJ, but without success.

Last year, Federal Law 14.230/2021 was approved, which changed the legislation on administrative misconduct. Among the changes were new rules for the statute of limitations.

The Federal Supreme Court (STF) is still debating whether cases before the enactment of Law 1430/2021 are affected. The trial is scheduled for August, but the Justices can request the case for examination, postponing the final decision.

Faced with this situation, lawyers for the former governor filed a new appeal to the STJ, sustaining that Garotinho would benefit from a possible retroactive application of the new rules.

As there is still no prediction for the STF to decide, the defense has asked for a suspension effect, which makes the candidacy possible.

Judge Humberto Martins granted the request in a decision released on Thursday, July 14. Martins understood this was an emergency, given the danger of delay and the risk of irreversibility.

“The risk of perishing of the right invoked because of the mere elapsing of time is presented materialized, in the case of the records, before the imminence of finalizing the deadlines for choosing candidates in party convention and subsequent submission of a registration to the Electoral Court,” wrote the judge.

Martins cited as precedent the decision of the minister of the STF Nunes Marques, who returned, earlier this month, the political rights of former deputy for the Federal District Rôney Nemer.

Recent decisions by Judge Humberto Martins have also restored the political rights of the former governor of the Federal District José Roberto Arruda, and the former mayor and current councilman of Rio de Janeiro, Cesar Maia.

With information from Agência Brasil