One year after thousands of supporters of Jair Bolsonaro They will attack the headquarters of the three powers in Brasiliathe judge of the Brazilian supreme court Gilmar Mendes exhaustively defends the former president’s link to the attacks.
“The political responsibility (of Bolsonaro) in the events of January 8 is unequivocal“Mendes told AFP during an interview in his office in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in Brasilia.
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The senior judge of the court, 67 years old, at the same time measures his words when referring to the legal responsibility of the far-right, an aspect that is still “in court”.
Jair Bolsonaropolitically disqualified for eight years last June, is investigated in the STF as a possible instigator and mastermind of the attacks on public buildings, in an attempt to bring down the president’s government Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The former president, who was then in USAhas denied any responsibility.
But Mendes assured that his government (2019-2022) “encouraged some type of anarchy, especially among the police forces”.
“I even believe that the military did not remove the invaders (from the buildings) due to an encouragement that existed from the presidency itself.“, stated the magistrate, who has occupied one of the eleven seats of the supreme court since 2002.
“Evaluation failures”
On January 8, 2023, a week after the leftist Lula took office after narrowly defeating Bolsonaro at the polls, Mendes had lunch in Lisbon with his friend Nuno Piçarracolleague of Court of Justice of the European Unionwhen he was surprised by news about the unrest growing in Brasilia.
Furious and disbelieving at the result of the presidential runoff, Bolsonaro supporters invaded the headquarters of Congress, the court and the presidency, breaking the furniture in their path and calling for military intervention.
Immediately, Mendes interrupted the meeting, went to his apartment and began sending messages and making calls to three people: his colleagues in court. Alexandre de Moraes and Rosa Weber and Lula’s new Minister of Justice, Flavio Dino.
“Nobody knew the full extent of what was happening.“recalled the judge, who decided to return early to Brazil.
“The intelligence system was still occupied by people who came from the previous government, there was no adequate passage of information, there were certainly evaluation failures” to avoid invasions, he considered.
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The attacks, which many consider the greatest challenge to Brazilian democracy since the last dictatorship (1964-1985), were the corollary of a “intimidation” that justice suffered during the presidential elections, said the judge.
Bolsonaro questioned without evidence during the campaign the transparency of the electronic ballot box system in Brazil, an attitude that earned him his political disqualification in June.
Government “I knew that the system was immune to fraud, but we suffered coercion, including from the (then) Minister of Defense (Paulo Sergio), who every morning wrote a letter suggesting some measure“said the judge, one of the few judges of the court who maintained dialogue with the former president during his mandate.
Bolsonaro “he wanted a pretext to annul the elections or eventually to remain in power”, he assured.
Necessary reforms
The STF was one of the main targets and object of grievances of the far-right, furious about investigations against it, as well as the spread of fake news.
The negative image of the court among those who declare themselves followers of the former president persists to this day: disapproval reaches 65%, according to the consulting firm Datafolha.
“Our disapproval is high because they (the Bolsonaristas) say that we prevented the government from governing”said the judge.
Even on January 8, 2023, the supreme headquarters was the most damaged building.
“Much more anger and hatred was placed against the STF. The propaganda was effective”Mendes said.
Today the STF plays a key role as the court where those responsible for 8/1 are tried.
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Of the 2,170 people arrested for these acts, so far 30 have been convicted of crimes such as coup d’état, with sentences of up to 17 years in prison. A total of 66 remain imprisoned.
The magistrate assured that now “the political system is more alert” to avoid violent events of this type.
But “We certainly have to make reforms on the role of the armed forces and the politicization that occurred, with the occupation of civil positions by soldiers.” under Bolsonaro, he explained.
