Regional Electoral Court Forms Majority to Declare Rio’s Mayor Unelectable Until 2026

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro (TRE-RJ) has formed a majority to ban the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Crivella from running for public office until 2026, in a trial begun on Monday, September 21st, of two lawsuits in which the Mayor is charged with abuse of power and prohibited conduct.

Of the seven members of the Court, six voted for the sanction. One member asked for a review and should cast his vote at next Thursday’s session, September 24th. Crivella has already announced that he will appeal the ruling after the trial is completed. He can refer the decision to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) and the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

The Crivella lawsuits relate to two events promoted by the city government on the eve of the 2018 election, and were judged jointly.

One lawsuit was brought by the Regional Electoral Attorney’s Office of the State of Rio de Janeiro (PRE-RJ) and refers to an event called Café da Comunhão (Communion Breakfast), which gathered evangelical leaders on July 4th, 2018 at the City Palace (the city hall headquarters).

During this meeting, the Mayor directed the true believers interested in undergoing cataract and varicose vein surgeries to look for the municipal employee Márcia da Rosa Pereira Nunes, who would make the referral to the public hospitals.

The sentence “Talk to Marcia” immediately became a symbol for breaking an official waiting list for surgeries. At the same meeting, the Mayor specifically directed evangelical pastors who had problems involving the Urban Land and Property Tax (IPTU) in their temples, and also praised the then pre-candidate to federal deputy for the PRB (now Republicanos) Rubens Teixeira, who was elected an alternate. In this lawsuit, Teixeira is a defendant along with Crivella.

The second lawsuit was brought by the PSOL party and deals with both the Café da Comunhão and an event held on September 13th, 2018 at the headquarters of the Estácio de Sá samba school, in downtown Rio. Servants of the Municipal Urban Cleaning Company (COMLURB) were invited and brought to the meeting, which was open to the public and did not specifically deal with COMLURB matters.

On the block were the Mayor, his son Marcelo Hodge Crivella, who unsuccessfully ran for federal deputy, and Alessandro Costa, who failed to become a state deputy. According to the indictment, the event, held with the City Hall structure, served to support the campaign of the two candidates.

The rapporteur of the lawsuits was the vice-president of TRE-RJ, Judge Claudio Luis Braga DellOrto, who considered the charges related to the first event, the Café da Comunhão, unfounded. With respect to the meeting held at the headquarters of the Estácio de Sá samba school, the rapporteur found the Mayor, his son, and former state deputy candidate Alessandro Costa guilty. DellOrto’s vote was for the unelectability of the three for eight years starting in 2018, in addition to a fine of R$106,000 (US$21,000).

Five members of the TRE-RJ joined the rapporteur’s vote: Federal Judge Guilherme Couto de Castro, jurist Gustavo Alves Pinto Teixeira, judges Paulo César Vieira de Carvalho Filho and Ricardo Alberto Pereira and the President of the Court, Judge Cláudio Brandão de Oliveira. The seventh member, Vitor Marcelo Rodrigues, who took office at the TRE-RJ four days ago, asked for a review of the case and is expected to cast his vote next Thursday. Until then the trial is suspended.

In a note, the city hall stated that “after the trial is completed and the ruling is published, within the legal deadline, the defense of Mayor Marcelo Crivella will file an appeal. The Mayor will be able to take part in the election,” the note asserted, referring to the November elections, when Crivella will be a candidate for reelection.

Source: Estadão Conteúdo