The Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro (TRE-RJ) formed a majority, on the afternoon of this Friday (2), to deny the registration of federal deputy Daniel Silveira (PTB-RJ) as a candidate for the Senate.
There were five votes for rejection, but a judge asked for a view and another court colleague decided to wait for the analysis before making a decision.
CNN tries to contact the politician’s defense to comment on the fact.
In the session, electoral prosecutor Neide de Oliveira argued that Silveira is ineligible because of the conviction in the Federal Supreme Court, in April of this year, for the crimes of threat to the Democratic State of Law and coercion in the course of the process.
She stated that the grace granted to the federal deputy by President Jair Bolsonaro did not rule out the loss of political rights determined in a collegiate body, only the prison sentence.
According to the prosecutor, the jurisprudence in this regard is already consolidated, so the candidacy registration must be rejected.
Lawyer Rodrigo Mazoni, in the defense of the politician, argued that Daniel Silveira was arrested simply for speaking out. “Our country is going through very dark times and talking today is going to jail,” he told the court.
The defense said that TRE-RJ has been comparing Silveira’s case with that of Roberto Jefferson, but has ruled out these supposed similarities.
Mazoni stated that Jefferson received a pardon, a collective benefit for fulfilling requirements required by law, and Silveira, a grace, a private act of the President of the Republic that cannot be contested. For the lawyer, the TRE-RJ is not competent to analyze the act of grace.
The lawyer also argued that Silveira presented the electoral discharge certificate, which proves that his political rights are valid. “If Daniel Silveira was wrong, today he is condemned by the STF, I think he deserves to be subjected to the scrutiny of his electorate”, defended the lawyer.
Judge Luiz Paulo da Silva Araújo Filho, rapporteur of the case, followed the thesis presented by the Public Electoral Ministry, with a long vote that refuted point by point the defense’s arguments.
He pointed out that Daniel Silveira was convicted of crimes against public administration, cause of ineligibility. Even with the benefit of presidential grace, political rights remain suspended. “It is a peaceful understanding that this does not rule out the extra-penal effects resulting from a conviction, including ineligibility”, he highlights.
Contrary to what the defense argued, the rapporteur stressed that the case bears similarities to the trial of Roberto Jefferson’s registration by the TSE, with a unanimous vote for rejection.
In both, according to the judge, politicians were convicted by a collegiate body and benefited from pardons. Even in the case of grace, it is not up to the president to define the effects, already listed by legislation, pointed out Araújo Filho.
Therefore, he voted for the rejection of the candidacy registration, being followed by the judges Afonso Henrique, Alessandra Bilac, João Ziraldo and Elton Leme. Tiago Santos asked for a view and postponed the vote, while Kátia Junqueira preferred to wait for her colleague’s analysis to manifest.
Thus, the partial result was five votes against the registration of Daniel Silveira.
Source: CNN Brasil
