Brazil’s Supreme Court gives Bolsonaro 10 days to explain patriotic congressman Silveira’s pardon

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Justice Rosa Weber of the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) gave President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) 10 days to declare the pardon of Deputy Daniel Silveira (PTB-RJ) after he was convicted for statements against the STF Justices.

“Request for information from the President of the Republic to be provided within 10 days. Thereafter, the Attorney General of the Union and the Prosecutor General of the Republic shall be informed successively within 5 days,” the STF order states.

The STF has the power to review the constitutionality of Bolsonaro’s decree against its own ruling and is expected to do so.

The decision was made in four  Supreme Court cases challenging the pardon signed by Bolsonaro on Thursday (21).

They were filed by the small opposition parties Sustainability Network, or Rede Sustentabilidade, Democratic Labor Party (PDT), Cidadania party, and the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL).

Here is the full action of the Network, PDT, Cidadania and PSOL.

In addition to the prison sentence, STF ordered the loss of Silveira’s mandate and the suspension of his political rights while the effects of the conviction continue.

DEEP CONFLICT BETWEEN THE POWERS IN BRAZIL

Silveira’s sentence of 8 years and 9 months in a closed initial regime is seen most of all by the large patriotic and religious but also economic circles in Brazil as a political judgment of the left-leaning STF. That is why Brazil faces a delicate situation today.

The underlying problem is a deep disharmony and distrust between the executive and judicial branches. Both sides accuse the other of overstepping its authority or exploiting its power.

The fronts are hardened and the presidential elections are just around the corner in October. The case is causing a stir and does not bode well for the coming months.

The STF sentence against Silveria was handed down on April 20. The next day, Bolsonaro signed the decree that overturned the federal congressman’s conviction.

The case refers to a video published by Silveira on Feb. 16, 2021. In the publication, the congressman “insults” the Justices of the Supreme Court.

The deputy was arrested on the order of Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the rapporteur of the case, the same day the video was published. The arrest was lifted in November 2021.

The Prosecutor General PGR considered that the video contained statements that went beyond “mere verbal excesses.”

Silveira’s crime consisted of a profanity-laced tirade posted on Youtube calling out various STF Justices by name, including Alexandre de Moraes, for being “not good for shit for this country” and calling for the removal of all STF Justices from the bench.

In a segment that the STF repeatedly highlighted as the most offensive in the video, Silveira said he was imagining one of the Justices “taking a beating,” but insisted he was “just imagining” and not “inciting violence.”

Justice De Moraes insisted in his ruling last week that Brazilian law only protects “freedom of expression with responsibility,” granting the STF sweeping power to decide what is or is not “responsible” speech. Criticizing the STF proved “irresponsible” for the court.

“Freedom of expression exists for the manifestation of opposing opinions, jokes, satires, for wrong opinions, but not for criminal opinions, hate speech, an attack on the democratic state of law,” de Moraes, who ordered a violent raid on a Youtube comedian for reportedly supporting Bolsonaro, said last week.

“This Court and the world, in general, agree that freedom of expression is not an absolute right and must be balanced with other values and constitutional rights,” another STF Justice, Luís Roberto Barroso, said during the Silveira ruling.

In contrast, Bolsonaro wrote in his presidential decree pardoning Silveira that “freedom of expression is an essential pillar of society in all its manifestations.”