Demonstrators Protest Supreme Court Decision in São Paulo

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The groups that led the motion for President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment met again on Saturday, November 9th, on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, to advocate the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) that allows imprisonment after a conviction is upheld by a second instance court.

The demonstrators were summoned by ‘Nas Ruas’ (“On the Streets”), ‘Vem Pra Rua’ (“Come to the Street” – VPR) and Movimento Brasil Livre (“Free Brazil Movement” – MBL), among other smaller organizations, and occupied a stretch between the São Paulo Art Museum (MASP) and the Federation of Industries of São Paulo (FIESP). The State Police has not provided estimates of the number of people present.

Parked opposite the MASP, the ‘Nas Ruas’ movement sound truck gathered the PSL Bolsonarists, who delivered a harsh speech against the STF and attacked former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was released on Friday from the Federal Police penitentiary in Curitiba after the STF revoked imprisonment until all appeals are exhausted. The ‘Nas Ruas’ and the ‘Vem Pra Rua’ movements also advocate the impeachment of STF justices.

According to federal deputy Carla Zambelli, one of the founders of ‘Nas Ruas’, Lula’s release will unify the right-wing camp. “Lula’s release from jail will reinforce Bolsonaro’s leadership in the right-wing camp. His release has brought back the sentiment that unified us in Dilma’s impeachment,” said the deputy to Estado newspaper. In her speech, Zambeli talked about the expulsion proceedings she is facing in the PSL for remaining loyal to Bolsonaro.

Entrepreneur Luciano Hang, an ally of Bolsonaro and owner of the Havan store chain, was one of the most enthusiastic speakers on the ‘Nas Ruas’ truck. He used slogans linking Lula to Cuba and attacking the left-wing. “These people in red were trained in Cuba,” Hang said into the microphone. Lawyer Modesto Carvalhosa also spoke on the truck and advocated the impeachment of STF justices.

“Lula’s release succeeded in uniting the good people who were divided. The left-wing has destroyed Brazil,” Hang said. Among the demonstrators standing in front of the ‘Nas Ruas’ truck were banners defending military intervention, praising President Jair Bolsonaro and Minister Sérgio Moro.

More conservatively, the ‘Vem Pra Rua’ movement advocated as its sole agenda the bills under way in Congress to reinstate permitting imprisonment immediately after an appellate court has upheld a conviction. Adelaide Oliveira, the group’s spokesperson, said that the PEC amending the constitutional provision already has 43 signatures in the Senate and this will be the focus of the movement. “Lula’s release is a shambles for those who thought that the problem was solved. Lula’s release will wake people up,” she said.

The ‘Vem Pra Rua’, however, remains distant from Jair Bolsonaro. “We do not support Bolsonaro, we support ideas. We do not have leaders, we are non-partisan,” she said.

In addition to São Paulo, the capital cities of Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, and Salvador also recorded demonstrations, most of which had few participants. In Curitiba, capital of Paraná, the president of the Chamber’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ), Felipe Francischini, pledged to propose the bill that would allow imprisonment after a conviction has been upheld on appeal.

Brasília

The demonstration in Brasília at the Ministries Esplanade also focused on the demand for Congress to approve one of the PECs that are being processed in the Chamber and Senate and which may reinstate the option of someone being imprisoned before the judgement of conviction has become final.

Deputy Bia Kicis, vice-president of the Chamber’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ), said the street demonstrations this weekend will put pressure on legislators to approve the PEC. The bill should be put to a vote in the committee on Monday, November 11th.

“That pressure will not be just today, no, the people can not get tired. The other side doesn’t get tired, so we can’t either,” she said. “The PEC was already on the table in the CCJ and we have to move it forward. We need pressure. It will be obstructed. But we have to get it passed,” she added.

In her opinion, if there is political will, the bill could be passed yet this year. “We’ve had enough of seeing Congress pass laws in just one day when it’s in the leaders’ interest. This law is in the people’s interest,” she said. However, after the CCJ, the proposal needs to be analyzed by a special committee.

The deputy also advocates that Congress vote on a bill to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure, which is viewed by some as an easier way to reinstate provisional enforcement of unsuccessfully appealed convictions.

“If we change the code of criminal procedure, we can anticipate serving the sentence before it is final,” said Bia. According to her, some types of crime, such as violence, corruption involving high figures and crimes of jurisdiction could decree imprisonment after conviction in a lower court, before any appeals. She says she is currently preparing a bill in this regard.

President Jair Bolsonaro, who did not attend the demonstration, stopped by approximately half an hour before it began. He was returning from the birthday barbecue of General Eduardo Villas Bôas, special advisor to the Institutional Security Office (GSI).

“He can’t, he’s President of the Republic. He is right to detach himself from this movement. This movement belongs to the people. Deputies are meant to speak, to represent the people. He is president of the whole people,” said Bia Kicis.

Rio de Janeiro

In Rio, protesters gathered around a small sound car and took up less than a block off São Conrado beach, right across the street from the building where the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia, lives. Many of them were dressed in black in protest against the STF. Most, however, retained the movement’s tradition and dressed in green and yellow.

Source: Estadão